LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





DDDDBHflSTSLf 



SDIMEE TOURS; 



OH, 

\ 

NOTES OF A TRAVELER 

9 

THROUGH 

SOME OF THE MIDDLE AND NORTHERN STATES. 



BY THEODORE DWIGHT, 



AUTHOK OF 



"a tour in ITALY," "THE NORTHERN TRAVELER," "THE FATHER'S 
BOOK," &C., AND EDITOR OF " DWIGHt's AMERICAN MAGAZINE." 



<Seconti JB'tilUoru 



NEW YORK: 
HA.RPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 

8 9 CLIFF STREET. 
1847. 



So /u \ 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER I. 

Washington — Mount Vernon 9 

CHAPTER n. 

Washington — Advantages of Small Capitals — Salutary Hints to 
Ambition — Foreigner disappointed — More Reflections — Vines 
— Railroad . . . . . . • . .17 

CHAPTER HI. 

Baltimore — Route to Philadelphia — Railroads . . .23 

CHAPTER IV. 

Philadelphia ' . 28 

CHAPTER V. 

New-York — Activity of Citizens — Merchants — Societies — Steam- 
boats .......... 31 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Sea-shore — Long Branch — Bathing — Scenery — Shipwrecks 
— Forms of Danger and Modes of Escape . . .37 

CHAPTER VII. 

New-York — Books — The Apparatus of Literature — Conversa- 
tions with Booksellers on Public Taste, &c. — A Friend re- 
turned from a Tour to Europe — Foreign Feelings and Igno- 
rance respecting America — Varying Aspects of the Streets of 
the Metropolis — [mpressions from observing them . . 46 

CHAPTER VIII. 

New-York continued — Foreign Residents and Visiters — For- 
eign Books 4 . . 55 



VI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Fashions and old Fashions in Travelling — New-York Harbour — 
Retreat of Washington's Army from Long Island — The East 
River — Low State of Agriculture caused by our defective Edu- 
cation — Hell-Gate — Long Island Sound ... 62 

CHAPTER X. 

New-Haven — Literary Aspect — Refined Society — Taste in Archi- 
tecture — Burying-ground — Franklin Institute — Paintings of 
Trumbull — American Taste — Learning . . . 73 

CHAPTER XL 

A Connecticut Clergyman's Family — Wood-hauling — Middle- 
town 88 

CHAPTER Xn. 

Hartford— Charter Hill, the Seat of the Willis Family— Public 
Institutions — Society — Antiquities .... 97 

CHAPTER Xni. 

Narrative of a Visit to the Springs in the last Century — News- 
papers ..... .... 104 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Music — New-England Villages contrasted with Italy on this sub- 
ject — A Traveller in search of Health — Burying-grounds — 
Rural Celebration of Independence at Northampton — Amherst 
— Academies of Massachusetts — Exhibition. . .113 

CHAPTER XV. 

Female Character — A Connecticut School — Scenery on Connec- 
ticut River — Deerfield — Turner's Falls — Early State of the 
Country 122 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Copies of ancient Letters, illustrating something of the State of 
Things in this Part of the Country early in the last Cen- 
tury 129 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Erroneous Opinions of Foreigners of our Society — A great politi- 
cal Character — Sabbath-school 135 



CONTENTS. VJl 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Approach to the White Hills — Bath — Reflections on Society 
— The Wild Ammonoosuc — Breton Woods — Crawford's — 
Scenery 143 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Excursion to Mount Washington — Walk through the Forest — 

The Camp — Ascent of the Mountain — View from the Summit 

_ —The Notch— Old Crawford's— Bartlet . . .151 

CHAPTER XX. 

Boston — Environs — Literary Institutions — Mount Auburn — Re- 
marks on our Intellectual Machinery .... 160 

CHAPTER XXL 

Nahant — Plymouth — Principles of the Pilgrims — Their Institu- 
tions — Excuse for not knowing more — Lyceums . .165 

CHAPTER XXIL 

New-York — Hotels — Sculpture — South America — Dr. Sweet — 
Foreign Inventions . . . . . . .175 

CHAPTER XXIIL 

Anew Corner of the World — Recollections of the Cholera 185 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Fashionable Education — Hudson River — The Power of Fancy — 
Catskill Mountains — Thunder-storms — Rainbows — Morning 
Scene 192 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Method and Effects of Labour-saving in teaching Latin — A 
Frontiers-man — Early History — Conversations on Health and 
Dress 199 

CHAPTER XXVL 

The Privileges of American Citizens in Trial by Jury — ^Battle- 
ground of Saratoga — Former State of Ballston Springs — 
Leisure Time — The Beauties of the German Language — A 
Foreign Spirit in America — Value of our own Tongue . 207 



VUl CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Thoughts on Foreign Travel — Dr. Sweet, the natural Bone- 
setter — Retiring Travellers 218 

CHAPTER XXVni. 

Evil Effects of Pagan Education in a Christian Land — Improve- 
ments in Temperance — Sources of intemperate Habits in our 
Country — Proper Estimation of Foreign Travel — Our own 
Moral and Physical Resources — Negligence of good Men in 
making Travels at home Pleasing and Useful — A Card-party 
in a Steamboat ....:... 227 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Whitehall — Story of Sergeant Tom, a Creature of the Revolution 
— Lake George — Charming Scenery and Interesting Historical 
Associations — Ticonderoga — A Revolutionary Tradition — ^An 
Oracle of Philology — Crown Point .... 236 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Feelings on entering Canada — State of Society — Emigrants — 
Scenery, &c. on the St. Lawrence — Architecture — Wilful 
Errors on Education in Convents 243 

CHAPTER XXXL 

Different Travellers have different Eyes — The Polish Exiles — 
Regrets on the Necessity of closing — "Tom Slowstarter's" 
Farewell . j 248 



NOTES OF A TRAVELLER. 



CHAPTER I. 

Washington — Mount Vernon. 



"Whoever visits Washington for the first time during the 
session of Congress has much to observe. It is his own 
fault if he does not find some one who will give him inform- 
ation, or help him to amusement among the variety of 
objects and characters around him. There are always 
idlers hanging on some petition, who have news to tell. 
The representatives and senators from his state will be 
glad to see him as their countryman, and feel an obliga- 
tion to render him some of those attentions which he might 
expect from the consul of his nation in a foreign port. Let 
him be careful, however, not to look for more than is rea- 
sonable, for business is very pressing upon a large part of 
the members, and calls of this kind are frequent. Members 
have their trials like other men ; and if they grow inatten- 
tive, or even show a disposition to get rid of you, forgive 
them. Many a speech is made in the House and Senate to 
thin, restless, coughing, and whispering audiences ; and 
talents which have transported their possessor five hundred 
or a thousand miles to a seat in the government, now, by a 
strange reaction, will sometimes send fifty or a hundred peo- 
ple out of the House. Events multiply daily in a country 
like this ; and time goes on in spite of every thing, though 
it please only a very small minority at best ; and although 
commonly nobody can be found who is satisfied in every 
thing. In the main, the members are about as civil to pef- 

2 



10 CITY OF WASHINGTON. 

sons indifferent to them, as other people are whose interest 
it is on the whole rather to please than to displease ; and 
will meet you in the rotunda of the eapitol by appointment ; 
introduce you into the library of Congress ; tell what senator 
is looking out of the middle window, or what distinguished 
representative is turning over Audubon's Ornithology ; point 
to the President's house, the departments, the patent-office, 
and the top of the dome, as objects worthy of a visit ; and 
then entering their chamber, introduce you to a few loungers 
near their own seats, yawning at the thoughts of another 
stupid day, or nervous and feverish with anxiety about the 
country or themselves. If it be gloomy weather, late in 
the session, you feel as if you were in a prison, for the 
people seem as dissatisfied as convicts. One is lost in 
thought about something invisible, another blushes over some 
newspaper which has attacked him, a third hurries to hear 
whether you have brought any news, and all are either 
hoping or despairing about soon obtaining their release. 

The broad staircase on the east side of the eapitol, by 
which you wearily mount from the level of the yard to the 
floor of the houses, the rotunda, &,c., is a deformity, inter- 
fering exceedingly with the architectural beauty of the 
front. It is unprecedented in Europe, so far as I have seen, 
unless the eapitol of Rome should be claimed as an ex- 
ample, which cannot with propriety be done. The " stairs 
which lead to the eapitol" of that metropolis are made merely 
to mount the hill, and do not cover a large part of the 
edifice. 

I was much pleased with the morning scene from the 
terrace, and still more witli that from the top of the eapitol. 
The view would be splendid indeed if the city were of the 
size originally expected, or even if the surrounding country 
were well cultivated. I could not, however, spend much 
lime in the city, without first visiting Mount Vernon. The 
very name of that place had long been dear to me. The 
sound always seemed sweet and solemn to my ears. I 
have had a peculiar feeling for it ever since the day when 
my father came home with a badge of mourning upon 
his arm, and said, with a tear in his eye, that General 



MOUNT VERNON. H 

Washington was dead. In the sadness of our house that 
day I participated as a child, with but few ideas beyond 
these, that a man, loved and venerated by my father above 
all others, had left the world, and that such excellence as I 
could never hope to see was gone for ever. And where 
did he die ? At Mount Vernon. So sweet a name, asso- 
ciated with such feelings in the mind of a stripling, I had 
always heard with emotion ; and it was with a degree 
of solemnity that it occurred to me at Washington, that I 
was now in the vicinity of the place. 

Not falling in company with any persons of congenial 
feelings who wished to visit the spot, I determined to pro- 
ceed thither alone ; and mounting a horse, set off one fine 
morning on that most interesting pilgrimage. A great part 
of the low level land which extends south from Capitol 
Hill to Greenleaf's Point, where the East Branch joins the 
Potomac, is entirely unenclosed and uncultivated, with the 
exception of a field here and there. I passed a spot, how- 
ever, which makes the strongest contrast with the general 
waste appearance of this extensive tract, and indeed with 
most of the soil in the vicinity of Washington. There foui 
acres have been enclosed, manured, and cultivated with 
care ; and now supply the market of the metropolis with a 
large share of its vegetables, yielding to the proprietor a 
valuable income. What a lamentable picture is pre- 
sented by a country like this, worn out by exhausting crops, 
and abandoned years ago to sterility and solitude ! The 
road to Baltimore lies through a similar region ; and my 
whole ride to Mount Vernon ofi^ered only the sad variety of 
a few plantations, where the same debilitating process ap- 
peared to have been not quite completed. The few crops I 
saw seemed to say that they were destined to be the last 
on those extensive fields ; and the scattered habitations of 
planters and slaves looked as if ready to be deserted, and 
soon to resemble the ruins seen on former sites, long since 
abandoned. The people are the first I ever saw who have 
not energy enough to pull down their old houses. 

Shrub oaks and other stunted trees have sprung up on 
$he deserted fields, and show how slow is nature to recover 



12 MOUNT VERNON. 

the springs of vegetable life when they have once been cut 
off. Among these I often paused to contemplate the grand 
aspect of the capitol from a distance, which is visible from 
a thousand points around. The enormous tolls paid on the 
road to Alexandria show the inconveniences arising to 
travellers out of a thin population. Roads and bridges are 
erected at greater expense, and contributions for their sup- 
port are divided among a few instead of multitudes. The 
reconstruction of the long bridge over the Potomac, as I 
ought to have mentioned, has been undertaken : but it 
seems to me a discouraging task, especially since the steam- 
boats carry so large a part of the travellers on the route to 
Alexandria. 

Alexandria is a large town, with spacious stores near the 
water, and in the upper part several streets of handsome 
and even elegant houses. The view of the city and its 
environs, from an eminence beyond it, was such as to show 
its extent and principal edifices, yet not to exhibit any thing 
of its harbour or the general plan of the streets. After this 
I had nothing like an extensive or a pleasing view during 
the rest of my ride, as the season was not far enough ad- 
vanced to give the woods all their beauty, the late rains had 
rendered the road very wet, and the habitations of men were 
few and poor. 

At length I entered the Mount Vernon estate ; and there 
was some feeling excited by the thought of the cavalcades 
and personages that had passed through the same gate. I 
was also reminded of visits I had made to Roman villas, 
and the deserted avenues to ancient cities ; and my impres- 
sions were in some respects similar, though in others very 
different from any thing I had ever experienced before. 
The solitude was as profound as that of any deserted region 
of Italy; the habitations of men, at many parts of the road, 
seemed as distant ; and nature appeared almost as much 
left to herself. But who can describe the difference be- 
tween the character of Washington and that of the ancient 
warriors, whose memory we associate with the scenes they 
visited ? Though our education teaches us far too much to 
admire them, plain sense as well as Christianity leads us to 



TOMB OF GENERAL WASHINGTON. 13 

'despise their motives and to condemn their actions. When 
will our children be trained up to a clear conception and a 
just estimate of the character of Washington, in whose 
heart alone was more real greatness than in all heathen 
antiquity? His principles and conductj enforced by the in- 
junctions of the Scriptures, what influence might they not 
exert upon the minds and hearts of American youth ! 

The rear of the family-mansion appears two or three 
times through openings in the foliage, before the visiter 
reaches it ; and although it is venerable, it shows, on a 
nearer approach, evident marks of decay. I passed the 
dwellings of the negroes, where an old family servant 
offered his services as guide ; and dismounting, hastened 
on to get rid of the groups which assembled around me. 
Two ranges of out-buildings, now partly disused, rim back 
from the ends of the mansion and form a court, — in which 
what messengers have heretofore reined up, what guests 
have alighted ! The plain piazza in front, with the fine 
.sloping and partly shaded lawn, descending to the brow of 
the precipice over the Potomac, the clumps of old trees, the 
broad and winding river below, all appear much as they 
have been represented for half a century on so many sorts 
of landscape furniture with which we have been familiar. 

The remains of the father of his country have been re- 
moved within a few months from the old family-vault, on the 
brow of the precipice, to a spot near the corner of the vine- 
yard enclosure, where the river is concealed from view, but 
which was selected by him duriiig life. A hasty sketch 
may give better ideas of its appearance than any de- 
scription. I dismissed my guide, that I might indulge 
alone in the feelings which had been rising in my heart as 
I approached the spot I had so long regarded with reverence ; 
and however difficult it might be to trace their source or to 
define their nature, I am sure that I have spent but few half- 
hours in my life in meditations more sweet and yet more 
bitter. They need not be detailed. Whoever loves virtue 
and his country, and has done any thing less than his duty, 
or whoever feels like a son of Washington, however humble 
he may be, and apprehends how much reason there is to 



H STEAMBOAT CONVERSATION. 

moo'rn over the loss of his spirit and his principles, may^ 
well conceive them if he will imagine himself placed alone 
in a solitary spot near the ashes of the dead. At the same 
time, to a man of an opposite character any description 
would of course be lost. I regretted here the want of some 
truly appropriate national music, when I found myself 
breathing a very soft and plaintive Scotch lament. Of all 
the poetry I have «een written on Mount Vernon, none 
strikes my ear with so much simplicity and sweetness^ 
mingled with so much elevation, as the lines of Brainerd. 

There is something much more congenial to my mind 
in the simple and indeed humble depository of the ashes of 
Washington than in the most splendid monuments of Italy 
or even of Egypt. Where there is no attempt made to 
captivate the eye, the mind is left at perfect freedom to form 
her own conceptions ; and it is no disrespect to the greatest 
artist to say, that a refined and virtuous fancy may tran- 
scend in its conceptions the work of any human hands. I 
have no objection to the erection of monuments to Wash- 
ington ; nay, I hope the day may come when every city, 
town, and village in the Union may possess one of some 
sort, constructed in the purest taste : but I feel that any 
fabric of art in this place would be only an impediment to 
the mind, whidi,if left to itself, will create the noblest con- 
ceptions out of nothing. 

Surely enough is not made of the memory of Washington 
in our country, when we reflect what has been and now is 
the influence of his name m. the world. His great example 
of disinterestedness has done more for the human race than 
we can possibly ascertain ; and is likely to produce still 
greater effects. His birthday should be observ^ed by our 
children as a day of becoming joy; and our schools should 
pour out their young inhabitants to hear his virtues recounted 
and to sing songs in his praise. 

I returned from Alexandria to Washington in the steamboat. 
There were several Virginians on board, of different classes 
and characters, who engaged in conversation on slavery. 
This subject, which was long regarded as a prohibited one, and 
by general consent excluded from conversation in all societies, 
has become the most general topic throughout the state, as 



STEAMBOAT CONVERSATION* 15 

IS well known, since the legislature have taken it up as a 
■serious business of deliberation. Virginia has long suffered 
under this incubus ; and from a mere love of that inaction 
which its oppressive weight has produced, has allowed it, 
like a vampire, to overshadow her eyes, and to suck her 
blood. Nothing but a severe shock can ever effectually 
arouse men from such a lethargy. " A little more sleep, a 
little more slumber," is a tune marked " Dacapo ad libitum,^'' 
and is generally sung over and over for life. Nothing can 
interrupt it but a louder note on some different key. The 
cracking of the foundation of one's house, however, a rat- 
tling among tlie clapboards and shingles, and an insuppres- 
sible scream of hunger from within, are serious sounds ; and 
it is no wonder that men begin to look about and talk when 
things get to such a pa-ss. The further they examine, the 
more they perceive that time and the elements are poor 
masons, carpenters, and providers ; and that Hercules never 
•works for a man who keeps his hands in his pockets. 

My Virginia fellow-passengers seemed to me like boys 
about to sign their indentures to a new trade, or seamen in- 
specting a ship which they are invited to man for a long' 
voyage. They had many objections to make against the 
plan, principles, and arrangements proposed, but the reasons 
of their reluctance all seemed to be comprehended in one 
word, — it looked too much like hard work. Things were 
■in a strange state in Virginia two years ago, when nobody 
■felt able to speak of the most obvious facts, though they 
were the causes of general suffering and of private discon- 
tent. Now they have got upon the opposite extreme, and 
there is danger only of talking too much. They have as 
yet no distinct, feasible plan proposed ; and the question 
appears to turnon a general hinge : a change or no change ! 
A change they wish ; but then, the first thought is, who 
•shall do the work ? The apprehension of being obliged to 
labour seemed to keep my fellow-passengers at arm's length 
from the point. It drove them back to the statu quo, but 
as this affords no resting-plac€, they isame jumping back 
again, as on a recoiling spring, to th^ necessity of a change. 

My friends, the hardship of work is not so great as you 



16 STEAMBOAT CONVERSATION. 

suppose. Give up this notion ; it has almost ruined you, 
and will ruin you totally if you hug it a little longer. How 
do we do at the North I How do they do at the West ? 
The spade and plough are not instruments of torture : their 
rough handles have the same drug secreted in them which was 
concealed in the racket of the Persian physician, and which 
with exercise exhaled its essence and restored the health of 
the monarch. Its influence also extends to the intellectual 
and moral man. Suppose you had made an experiment in 
one of your spacious and fertile counties thirty years ago, 
led your sons to the field, and trained them to the labours 
which consolidate and invigorate the frame. These labours, 
at the same time, foster a taste for harmless, cheap, and 
natural enjoyments. How would your fields have looked? 
What would have been their products under such improved 
systems as you and your sons might have introduced ? I 
fancy I see the little neighbourhoods which would have been 
formed, many a field now waste smiling with verdure, books 
and schools multiplied, manufactories built on the streams, 
good roads stretching hither and thither, happiness secured 
by intelligence, virtue, and prosperity. Your eyes are 
restless, your brows are clouded. There is nothmg more 
likely to remove such symptoms than the sight of our land 
well tilled by our own hands, the sounds of peace and joy 
in our habitations ; and what idle man ever knew them ? 

It has been bitterly complained of in Virginia that useful 
labour is despised ; and no doubt the statesmen who would 
gain true honour should take Cincinnatus for their model. 
A most intelligent and independent step has been taken by 
one of the literary institutions of the state, the results of 
which must be useful. Manual labour has been connected 
with study at Hampden Sidney College ; and although the 
opposition to it was at first very general and powerful, a 
remarkable change in the opinion of the wise and good has 
already commenced ; and no one who looks at the state of 
things can doubt that this is one of the most wise and prom- 
ising steps which could have been taken to repair the wastes 
of generations, and to remould the habits and condition of 
tlifi people* 



CHAPTER II. 

Washington — Advantages of Small Capitals — Salutary Hints to Am- 
bition — Foreigner disappointed — More Reflections — Vines — Rail- 
Toad. 

I NEVER visit Washington without being reminded of the 
miscalculations which were made by some of our wisest 
men, in relation to the growth of the city in population and 
importance. The magnificence of the plan is evident to 
every eye, and so is the total want of power to complete it. 
Broad avenues, named after the states, stretch indeed from 
the centre towards various points ; but some of them are 
impassable, and others lead to nothing worth seeing. Un- 
like the great roads which met in the Roman forum in the 
days of Roman greatness, they are more like some of them 
at the present day, which conduct only to a deserted and 
steril region in the vicinity. Still there is one gratificatioa 
to be derived from the public disappointment in relation to 
the growth of the federal city : the intrigues of a court are 
more exposed to view than they could be in a large me« 
tropolis ; and the shades of a great population are not ex- 
tended over them for their concealment. In European 
capitals, public men are much less exposed to public scru- 
tiny ; and great facihties are enjoyed for all sorts of in- 
trigues. Besides, every thing connected with the grandeur 
and brilliancy of power loses much of its importance in 
Washington, because so much of the interior of things is 
exposed to view. In this city visiters and inhabitants are 
alike impressed with what they see. Every year presents 
many new faces in the Houses of Congress, where new in- 
terests are maintained with the same ardour as before. 
When you call on a friend, you are perhaps introduced into 
•the same chamber you were in the last winter, with the 
2£^nie two beds in ih^ corners, the same display of gilt* 



18 CITY OF WASHINGTON. 

edged paper, and sealing-wax upon the table, and the same 
symptoms around you of public business and partisan-spirit, 
while yoLi reflect that the former occupant of the room and 
of one of the beds, restored again to private life, is five 
hundred or a thousand miles off, divested of his feathers, 
and a fortunate man if not the worse for his campaign at 
the seat of government. 

In the streets of Washington no warning seems omitted 
from which a spectator might learn patriotism, and a states- 
man honesty. The stage-horses wheel as gracefully to re- 
ceive the unsuccessful applicant for office as to bring the 
court-favourite to his lodgings ; and the minister's furniture 
shines as bright at the auctioneer's door on the day of his 
taking leave as it did on the evening of his first drawing- 
room. Oh the silent lessons I have read at the auctioneer's 
en ambition and her reward, the boasted purity of a popular 
government, the value and splendour of real virtue, and the 
contemptible character of her counterfeits ! Indeed, so 
severe are some of the sarcasms thus practically presented, 
that I was once ready to exclaim against the punishment 
inflicted on a late favourite of fortune, then newly sunk in 
disgrace, as greater than he could bear. 

The carpets on which his flatterers had stood, with smiles 
and compliments for him, were now cheapened on account 
of the dust of courtiers' feet, and the peculiar obsequious- 
ness with which the surface had been scraped at audiences 
and levees. But, ah ! the bowls and dishes, the cups and 
glasses out of which so many simpering mouths had been 
so lately fed, and now scarcely dry from the unavailing 
banquets : what emblems were they of the hollowness and 
brittleness of the station they had recently embellished ! 
The minion had before possessed my secret contempt and 
abhorrence ; but I could now have saved him the pangs of 
such a show. And yet such things are salutary. If they 
are able to affect others as they afiected me, a walk through 
Pennsylvania Avenue might cure the most ambitious and 
corrupt of statesmen and courtiers. 

Some of the inhabitants of Washington have had intelli' 
gence and observation enough to afford much interesting in- 



ABSENCE OF SOLDIERS. 19 

formation in relation to public men and national affairs. 
What we receive through the newspapers, or other channels 
little more correct, passes under their own eyes. And in- 
deed, perhaps, no part of the country is left so much alone 
to form unbiased opinions. While speeches are made in 
Congress, written out, amended, and published by thousands 
to influence some county, state, or number of states, nobody 
tries to discolour things to the Washingtonians, knowing that 
it would be in vain. Every thing is therefore left to be seen 
by them without disguise ; and the consequence is, they 
often form correct opinions, and speak with becoming frank- 
ness. It is gratifying also to reflect, that local interests and 
influences are not likely to engross and control the at- 
tention of the government in so great a degree as they 
have often done in large cities ; and there is no mob to 
overawe or even to threaten their freedom. 

To an American who has seen any of the capitals of Europe, 
the absence of military display is one of the most agreeable 
features in view, wherever he turns. There is not a soldier 
to guard gates or doors in Washington, with the single ex- 
ception of those at the navy-yard, a mile or more from the 
capitol. The total want of every sign of military prepara- 
tion is also very accordant with one's feelings. After the 
last war with England, a felon imprisoned for some crime 
confessed, as I recollect, that during his career of iniquity 
he had entered into a conspiracy to seize President Madison, 
and deliver him to the British ships then lying in the Po- 
tomac, while he was a sentinel to guard the President's 
house. As there was not even a wall of sufiicient height to 
prevent an approach to the doors, and no other obstacle, 
such a plan might have been easily accomplished, I sup- 
pose, under favourable circumstances, by mere surprise. 
Though danger was thus in one instance incurred by the 
neglect to take military precautions, how much better it is 
than to have the display of paid soldiers at every turn, and 
to become familiar with the music and the weapons of death ! 
From some acquaintance with the feelings and habits of 
foreigners, I can say with great confidence, that probably a 
large proportion of the intelligent men of Europe would 



so ADVANTAGES OF SMALL CAPITALS. 

learn with surprise that there is not a soldier on guard in the 
capital of the United States, even during the sessions of 
Congress, aUhough the famihar fact excites not a thought in 
our minds. 

I have heard a good deal said about schools of eloquence, 
the rhetorical talents of certain portions of the country, and 
native genius ; but I found true in Washington what I be- 
lieved in the French Chambers and the British Houses of 
Lords and Commons : that many men who suppose them- 
selves great orators are deficient in some or all of the indis- 
pensable qualifications ; and that not a i^ew real orators are 
unsuspicious of their talents, or unconscious of what they 
consist in. With our early training at school and college, 
we are very apt to suppose that fine language must approach 
the Latin standard, either in words or arrangement ; and 
after we have lived long enough to correct this mistake, we 
are some time in settling the great fact, that eloquence can 
never consist in useless words. Yet nothing is more true : 
and although we often find high encomiums passed by the 
newspapers on particular speeches, could we have witnessed 
their delivery, we should generally have found them falling 
blunt and dead upon the closed ears of a thin and sleepy 
audience. 

With abundant materials for thought, I took my seat in a 
stage-coach for Baltimore, and revived many a recollection 
of strolls through European palaces and prisons, and events 
in the history of courts. Washington, thought I, is a me- 
tropolis of nuisances, a capital of intrigues, and ever must 
be. But yet how different it is, in some respects, from the 
seat of an European court ! The profession of a courtier 
requires a long apprenticeship, which it is almost impossible 
to obtain in this country, among the frequent changes to 
which our system subjects us. Though the growth of bad 
men may be rapid, their career must generally be short. 
But what results might not be produced, if such characters 
as may be conceived, were allowed to prosecute their opera- 
tions for ten, twenty, or thirty years, without fear of inter- 
ruption, and under the shelter of an unchanging dynasty? 



A frenchman's opinion of WASHINGTON, 21 

Who would ever think of studying diplomacy in the United 
States, as it is regularly studied in some European countries? 
So preposterous a thing would be undertaken only by a 
madman. On the other side of the Atlantic, a man well 
trained in the forms of international business may ex})ect to 
be gratified with the substantial rewards awaiting its per- 
formance : but here, selections of ministers, secretaries, &c. 
may be made next year on grounds which cannot now be 
even conjectured : and as for five or ten years hence, no 
one pretends to foresee who may be in a foreign embassy, 
or why. The only offices in Washington which can be 
looked on as permanent, are a few clerkships in tite depart- 
ments, and the keepers of certain hotels ; the very stage- 
horses must stare at the new faces they annually behold 
among the legislators, and wonder why there are so frequent 
changes in that line. 

Benefit may be derived by some men from spending a win- 
ter or two at Washington. — They extend their acquaintance 
with men and things, return with new impressions concerning 
distant states, more enlarged views of national interests and 
principles, and attachments contracted with estimable friends 
from different districts. When questions arise which awaken 
a spirit of division among representatives from different 
parts of the Union, they see whence those feelings arise, 
observe their tendency, reflect on the danger, and devise 
measures for their prevention or removal. At the same 
time they raise in the opinion of others an estiination of the 
states which they worthily represent, and excite in their 
minds such reflections and feelings as they themselves expe- 
rience. If they have any intercourse with men of a less 
sincere or of a really vicious character, their admiration 
of patriotism and virtue is increased ; and if they converse 
with intelligent foreigners, they learn how highly our coun- 
try is regarded in Europe by one class, and how it is dis- 
liked by others. 

There was an elegant young Frenchman in the stage-coach, 
who had arrived in Washington only the day before, but 
had become so much ennuye, as he declared, at the sight 
of the city, that he had hurried away from it, intending never 

3 



22 VINES. 

to return. Now, why was he disappointed ? Washington 
certainly must be a very different city from what he had ex- 
pected to find it. The seat of government, as such alone it 
appears, had not attracted him ; for Congress, the Supreme 
Court, the President, and all the machinery and accompani- 
ments of it were there to be seen, but these he had not 
visited. He had missed the crowds and frivolities of Paris, 
— I will not say the vices ; and see how much we gain in 
having our capital in so great a degree as it is, divested of 
these. In Europe, courts corrupt capitals, arid capitals 
•courts and kingdoms. 

Mr. Adlum has his vineyard near Baltimore, where he 
has had great success in raising grapes, and even in making 
"wine. How unaccountable it seems, that with all the 
sagacity of our countrymen, the abundance of indigenous 
vines, and the ease with which they, as well as some foreign 
species may be cultivated, this branch of culture should have 
been so little attended to. The fruit is highly esteemed by 
lis, vast quantities of wine are imported, and abundance of 
miserable and pernicious drinks is used by persons who 
might be more cheaply or healthfully furnished with whole- 
some weak wine, were the proper course pursued to make 
it. The vine is probably more generally found in our dif- 
ferent states, and more indifferent to the varieties of soil, 
than any other plant we have. The treatment and culture 
of it are also remarkably cheap. A vineyard of twenty 
acres may be tended by two men employed only a part of 
the year ; and the value of the harvest will be great after 
the second year. At the same time, the soil best adapted 
to the vine is sandy and pebbly, such as is to a great extent 
now lying waste in the United States, as of little or no 
value. 

Many vines are seen in different parts of the country, 
chiefly trained for ornament and shade, but how few per- 
sons there are who attend to the pruning or clipping of 
them at the proper season : operations which are indispen- 
sable to the production of a good crop, and the neglect of 
which, for a single season in Europe, would cause an im- 
mense loss. 



BALTIMORE. 23 

There are several fine sights presented on that part of 
the Baltimore and Ohio railroad which lies along the Wash- 
ington road for three or four miles before we reach the 
former city. In one place it passes a broad and deep 
valley on the top of a great embankment, while a stream 
and a country-road cross its route through arched openings 
far beneath. It is travelled to the " Point of Rocks," on the 
Potomac. The scenery to Fredericktown, 60 miles, is 
constantly varying, and often wild and romantic. EUicott's 
Mills maybe compared with Little Falls on the Erie Canal. 



CHAPTER III. 

Baltimore — Route to Philadelphia — Railroads. 

Baltimore has as much the appearance of prosperity 
and enterprise, in proportion to its size, as perhaps any city 
in America. The broad and straight streets are lined with 
large stores and dwellings, some of which rival in taste the 
best in the country, and are thronged with well-dressed and. 
busy people. The monuments, rising high in the air from 
open squares, give an imposing effect ; while the shipping; 
in the river and harbour, and the noble railroads extending 
towards Susquehanna and the Ohio, with which it is de- 
signed to open a direct communication, indicate that the 
inhabitants have the intelligence and the ability to accom^ 
plish great things, to promote that commerce which is the 
main-spring of the city. The number of stage-coaches 
which arrive and depart is truly astonishing. Scarcely a 
quarter of an hour passed, when I was so situated at the 
Indian Queen as to observe the street, without the alighting 
of travellers or the strapping on of more baggage ; and fre- 
quently several stage-coaches stood, at once before the 
door. The travelling by steamboats and railroads is also 
very great ; so that whea navigation is open and Congress 



24 VALUE OF PUBLIC INTELLIGENCE. 

is in session, the place is one of our greatest thoroiighfareg. 
The muhitudes coming from the West impress one with the 
rapid increase of population in those flourishing regions. 

Baltimore has few monuments to public intelligence worthy 
of the name. There are few objects which I have seen, that 
convey the idea, so gratifying to a stranger and so honour- 
able to the citizens, that in this place knowledge is duly 
appreciated, and useful learning is shared by all classes. I 
speak of monuments as the Europeans use the word : that 
is, as public edifices. 

The University can scarcely be said to exist in any 
branch but the medical department, which has above one 
hundred students. The Athenaeum has 42,000 volumes in 
its library. Public education is improving rapidly. Four 
fine schoolhouses have been recently erected. No. 4, in 
Hanover-street, is a beautiful specimen of architecture,, 
being constructed of whitish granite, with a tasteful fagade. 
These buildings are much more ornamental than the public 
schools of New-York. May the interior prove but as use- 
ful, and Baltimore will have abundant reason to value her 
new acquisitions. 

There are persons in every considerable community 
among us, whose real pecuniary interest would be consulted 
by the cultivation of knowledge; and from these some ex- 
ertions might be expected, at least, on the ground of sound 
mercantile speculation. Although I would wish to see 
loftier motives than this brought into operation on such a 
subject, my chief desire is that the important benefits may 
be at any rate enjoyed. Teachers and booksellers are 
directly interested in the case ; and one would suppose that 
men of real literary or scientific attainments would wish to 
have their merits judged of by an enlightened public, or seek 
to cultivate knowledge among those around them, that they 
might enjoy the pleasure of participating. One would think, 
too, that as public peace and private security can be enjoyed 
only amid good order, intelligence, and morality, every indi- 
vidual would feel the elevation of public intelligence to be 
a matter of personal interest, and lend his voice and counte- 
nance, if not his purse, to its aid. And as our females are 
generally more dependant than njen uporx the sta,te of society 



STEAMBOAT ADVENTURE. 25 

around them, and not less capable of appreciating- the value 
of intellectual refinement, they should be ready on every 
occasion to throw their powerful influence into the scale in 
its favour. Strange it is, that amid a population of such 
extent, with so much prosperity and wealth, with such 
noble works for internal communication as are in progress, 
in possession of every facility, and so near the capital 
of the country, there should be any delay to adopt measures 
to render this city as much distinguished for intelligence as 
for commercial enterprise. One half the ingenuity and 
money bestowed upon a single structure, might lay the foun- 
dation of a far more necessary monument than that com-^ 
memorating a battle. 

There is but little to interest the traveller in the steam* 
boat from Baltimore to Frenchtown. The soil on both 
sides is poor, and large tracts have been impoverished by 
exhausting crops in years past, and consequently neglected 
and almost deserted. Not a building, or a wall, or scarcely 
a tree shows signs of even local or individual prosperity; 
and there is nothing which approaches nearer to what may 
be called scenery, than rough banks and some bare hills o£ 
moderate size. In some places, at a distance in the interior,, 
is excellent land ; but all we see hereabouts justifies the 
remonstrances made in the legislature of Maryland against 
the continuance of the present state of things with regard 
to slavery, on account of its ruinous influence on agriculture^. 
How desirable it is that the necessary energy should be 
displayed on such a waste territory, and that it should be 
recovered to fertility and usefulness. 

One of those scenes I once witnessed here, to which W8 
are more exposed in steamboats than we are generally 
aware. An insane man, who was a passenger, rose in the 
dead of night, and waked us- from sleep in the darkness, 
with some of the most shocking screams I ever- heardi 
Some half dozen men were roused at the same time with; 
blows which he gave them at a venture ; and to judge from 
such information as was to be obtained, an angry scuffle 
ensued between them, each erroneously supposing his 
neighbours the aggressors. A light brought about such an 

3* 



26 RAILROABS.. 

explanation as caused a cessation of hostilities ; but it was. 
loncf before the cause of the confusion was discovered, and 
still longer before the wily maniac was confined and silenced.. 
We are always exposed to a panic whenever the cahin is 
left at night without a light ; and why serious accidents do 
not often occur, I cannot tell. 

One of the happiest effects of travelling on railroads is 
the freedom it gives you from the impertinence and imposi- 
tions of porters, cartmen, et omne id genus, who infest 
common steamboat landings. A long and solitary row of 
carriages was standing on the shore awaiting our arrival ;, 
not a shout was heard, scarcely any thing was seen to move 
except the locomotive, and the arms of the man who 
caught the rope thrown from our boat. The passengers 
were filed off along a planked walk to the carriages through 
one gangway, while their luggage, which had already been 
stowed safely away, was roiled on shore by another, in 
two light wagons ; and almost without speaking a word, the 
seats were occupied, the wagons attached behind, the half- 
locomotive began to snort, and the whole retinue was on 
the way with as little ado and as little loss of time as I 
have been guilty of in telling the story. The men and boys 
who should, or rather would have been on the spot, halloo- 
ing and bawling, but for the railroad, it is to be hoped were 
somewhere in better business. 1 wish them nothing worse, 
while I wish travellers nothing better than to be thus rid of 
them — whenever they can as well do without them. 

I had one very pleasant reflection to make upon the route 
of this railroad, viz., that it had not injured a single valuable 
farm, or crossed a spot of good soil. 

What is to come on the back of railroads I do not know, 
or how long it will be before they are to be in their turn 
superseded by some more economical or rapid expedient, as 
they have superseded canals. When the great canal was 
cut across this very cape a few years since, competition was 
as little apprehended, even in the transportation of pas- 
sengers, as it is now on this road. And in a country where 
we are as ready to act on a new suggestion, and to push a 
new experiment to the utmost, as we are to embrace a new 



THE DELAWARE. 2T 

opinion, who can tell what new plans,, what new enterprises 
are before us ? 

Steamboats, canals, and railroads, in their different 
spheres, have done so much to promote brotherly love 
among our countrymen, and promise so much more, that I 
look upon them with a kind of affectionate gratitude. We 
formerly thought that the vast extent of our territory would 
preclude that intimate intercourse between distant parts 
which is necessary to unity of feeling ; and that the want 
of a sense of mutual dependance would foster mutual 
estrangement : but these improvements have eaten up miles 
and degrees of space, levelled mountains, contracted plains, 
dried up rivers, and drank up half the water on our coasts. 
They have, as it were, made a present of a good pair of 
seven-league boots to every son and daughter of the United 
States. And what gadding on a large scale is now per- 
formed ! What long jumps do we annually make from 
home to our neighbours of Maine, Michigan, Kentucky, and 
Louisiana ! It has been said of some of our countrymen 
that they have no home : but it might be more truly said of 
them all, that they have half a dozen ; the stage-coach, the 
canal-boat, the steamboat, the packet-sliip, the inn, and now 
the railroad car. The vehicles for travelling thus furnish 
us with a practical refutation of all the prognostics that 
have been proclaimed of evil to our country, from want of 
intercourse between its different parts, founded on the expe- 
rience of other nations ; for they have made us to differ 
from them in this most essential particular. 

On reaching Newcastle, the cars stop near the steam- 
boat, the passengers alight upon a wooden stage, and are 
soon safely embarked, while their luggage is dexterously 
rolled in upon the forward deck. Cars laden with merchan- 
dise may be driven into a large store-house, to be protected 
in stormy weather or at night, and fifty of them may be 
housed as comfortably and with as little ceremony as an old 
milch cow in a farmer's barn. 

Many pleasant little spots of cultivated land are seen 
along the Delaware, chiefly on the Pennsylvania side ; and 
on either hand are numerous patches rescued from the river 



28 PHILAITELPHIA. 

by stone walls and banks of earth, which exclude the water 
when it rises, and preserve the crops from overflow. Few 
travellers know the pleasant scenes which are found a little 
in the interior, as no great route passes through them ; and 
many of the inhabitants, being almost cut off from inter- 
course with the world, are little affected by the exciting in.- 
fluences of the day, so irresistible to those who are exposed 
to them. This is particularly true of a portion of New- 
Jersey, not far remote. What a bitter enemy to human im- 
provement is a pine barren ! It is the best emblem we can 
show of a real European legitimate. It keeps the people 
on the borders of starvation, so that let the thirst of the 
mind for knowledge be never so great, it is always exceeded 
by the famine of the stomach. It separates men as far 
asunder as possible, and thus the fire of knowledge, like 
scattered brands, can never kindle into a blaze. How these 
obstacles are to be overcome, by what means we can hope 
to triumph over poverty and distance in intellectual, as we 
can in physical respects, is yet to be determined. Certain 
it is that this is a question of great importance ; and the 
success we have had in improvements of less consequence 
should stimulate our exertions in this. 



CHAPTER IV: 

Philadelphia. 

Philadelphia has beauties and excellences of its own.^ 
None of our other cities has so fine a kitchen-garden as- 
Southwark, or displays so much of the beauty of utility and 
uniformity in its streets. In justice, however, I must allow 
that no suburbs can be more forbidding, and no introduction 
to a large town less promising, than the access by some of 
the great routes. I hope the boasted literary character of 
the citizens is not more apparent than real. Whether it be 



PHILADELPHIA. Z¥ 

SO or not, I sincerely wish them ten-fold of this commend- 
able quality, which they value enough at least to claim the 
credit of it. We need not wish to institute exact comparisons 
between the intellectual merits of any of our cities, lest the 
aggregate should reflect upon the country. It were much 
better to labour zealously by combined exertions to increase 
the whole stock. 

Why Philadelphia should not be the Athens of America, 
I am sure I cannot tell, nor wiiat should prevent Baltimore, 
Boston, or New- York. The people have all the means 
within their reach. We are in the habit of attributing 
considerable literary honour to some of the cities of Europe, 
the inhabitants of which are bound on every hand by re- 
strictions which greatly impede them ; while we, insensible 
of our advantages, so superior in many respects, indolently 
sigh for the time when learning will take up its abode among 
us. It probably is in the power of individuals of intelli- 
gence, virtue, and influence, now living, by only coming out 
as the decided champions of knowledge, to eflfect a speedy 
and total change of things in the United States. But 
timidity on one side, old habits on another, and business all 
around, hem in and shoot down all the hopes we entertain 
of any of our citizens here and elsewhere. Punning is the 
perversion of the use of words j and the Philadelphians are 
notorious punsters. Some of them will manufacture more 
puns in a half hour than you may hear elsewhere in a 
twelvemonth. They have some fine institutions which 
promote solid learning among different classes, such as the 
Athenaeum, Franklin Library, and sundry societies which 
provide lectures, books, &.c. In medical institutions they 
are of course first. The general aspect of the city certainly 
must invite the mind to study and reflection, one would 
think, more than that of most other towns in the Union. 
How anybody can pursue a straight train of thought while 
threading the crooked lanes and alleys of New-York and 
Boston, especially with the din of the former in his ears, it 
is difficult to tell. 

There is one reason why I prefer Philadelphia; I feel 
the persuasion always upon me that every thing is clean. 



30 PHILADELPHIA. 

The breadth and uniformity of the streets favour cleanliness, 
and a great deal of washing and scrubbing is visible ; for 
whatever house you enter, you see hydrants, and tubs, and 
baths, and rills of living water, and have the satisfaction of 
reflecting that hogsheads and rivers of it are daily used to 
good purpose. 

The elevated banks of the Schuylkill are ornamented witli 
several fine public institutions, among which the Marine 
Hospital is conspicuous. The marble quarries, a short dis- 
tance up that stream, afford most valuable facilities for the 
erection of edifices of a beautiful material. A tour of visita- 
tion to the Water Works, Penitentiary, House of Refuge, &;c., 
out of the city, and the various public buildings, exhibitions, 
&c. within, will afford any traveller much interest^ and he 
will see and hear things important to be known, too numer- 
ous to write or to read. Though the state is sadly de- 
ficient in public schools, there are some good ones ; and; 
the infant schools of this city have been celebrated. The 
American Sunday School Union has its centre here ; and 
the publishing apparatus is very extensive. They have 
for several years issued about a million of little volumes 
annually, and have taken great pains to improve the char- 
acter of works for the intellectual, moral, and religious 
instruction of the young. 

But one who is bound on a long journey must not allow 
himself to be too long detained by the agreeable objects of: 
this orderly and well-arranged city. 



CliAPTER V. 

New-York — Activity of Citizens — Merchants — Societies — 

Steamboats. "* 

"Whoever visits New- York feels as he does in a watch- 
maker's shop ; everybody goes there for the true lime, and 
feels on leaving it as if he had been wound up or regulated 
anew, and better than he could have done it himself. He 
hears a clicking, as it were, on all sides of him, and finds 
every thing he looks at in movement, and not a nook or 
corner but what is brim-full of business. Apparently there 
is no inactivity; that is, no person is quiescent both in body 
and mind at once. The reason of this is, that the lazy are 
"excited by the perpetual motion of the busy, or at least 
compelled to bestir themselves to avoid being run over. If 
a man has any sympathetic excitability, he will inevitably 
step quicker in Broadway than in an ox-path in the country; 
and if he have none, a regard for his flesh and bones will 
make him keep pace with the crowd with w'hich he moves, 
avoid collision with that which he meets, and hurry over 
the cross-walks to escape the carts and omnibuses. 

Another great reason why there is so much excitement 
about New-York is, that the principal vehicles for travelling 
are seen by so large a portion of the population. Little im- 
pression was produced on the public in former days, when 
the stage-coaches took ofl^ most of the travellers by night or 
at irregular hours : but what can be more animating than 
to witness the departure or arrival of the steamboats ? At 
six and seven in the morning boats start for all quarters of 
the compass, like so many carrier-pigeons, released from one 
point to take the courses they choose. When the hour ar- 
rives, the hissing and roaring of the steam-pipe suddenly 
ceases, the departing travellers spring on board, their re- 



32 MERCHANTS. 

maining friends fly for the shore, the wheels move as if by- 
instinct, and boats tear friend from friend. No row-boat is 
left behind, as formerly, to accommodate those who lag be- 
hind : the day of toleration for the lazy has passed ; and all 
the comfort they receive, when they beg a moment's delay, 
is an assurance that they will be " in time for the next boat." 
But in spite of all such warnings, we find the ancient race 
of the Loiterers not quite extinct. They are found at every 
steamboat-landing in the country punctually at their time ; 
that is, half a minute at least too late : and if the moment 
for starting should be delayed until to-morrow or next week, 
they still would so contrive it as to keep up their consistency. 
This spirit of delay once detained one of my travelling com- 
panions a little too long, and separated us for a part of the 
route, on the enjoyment of which we had indulged anticipa- 
tions, loading one of us with a double portion of luggage, 
and at the same time depriving the other of a change of 
raiment. I once saw an orange-seller hurry on shore at the 
signal for starting, without waiting to give change to a cus- 
tomer, whose money he held under pretence that he had no 
time; and in another instance a man, who meditated a 
similar trick on his porter, was pulled back by him for pay, 
and detained on shore, while his spouse was taken to 
another city without him. 

One would think, from the activity of the New- York 
merchant, that he must be wholly absorbed in the pursuit 
of wealth : but on becoming acquainted with the facts, you 
often find that he only redoubles his activity in business 
hours to gain time for some other employment which he 
prefers. Not a small proportion of the whole number are 
connected with some society for the promotion of the good 
of their fellow-citizens as fellow-men, in morals, intelligence, 
religion, or some other important interests. This is by no 
means true of all, nor of so many as would be desirable, as 
is proved by the fact, that numbers are members of two, 
three, and sometimes more associations. They take their 
intelligence and activity with them wherever they go ; and 
therefore in their society or committee-rooms, with the aid 
of their commercial punctuality, clear-sightedness, and 



BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATIONS. ^3 

promptitude, generally act with judgment, good effect, and 
a saving of time, which could not be expected from men of 
different habits. The amount of business performed by the 
active merchants of this city in benevolent societies would 
astonish any one, if it were possible to present a clear esti- 
mate of it. And on the other hand, an account of the money 
annually contributed by them for the promotion of similar 
objects would form an amount probably greater than might 
be easily believed. In all this the purest motives have a 
large share of influence. It is only necessary to know 
individuals personally to perceive that many are actuated 
not merely by generosity, but by Christian principle ; and 
the prospects of good to the city, the country, and the world, 
from the extension of the spirit of benevolence among the 
influential men of this city, are very encouraging. Ex- 
amples of the kind encourage imitation, while they reward 
those who furnish them ; and every year sees one individual 
and another embarking in the delightful career of disinter- 
ested beneficence, and new exertions made by those who 
have become more interested or encouraged by what they 
have already effected. 

It is highly gratifying also to perceive that the education 
and employments of multitudes of the young, who are to 
occupy important stations in society hereafter, are preparing 
them for more general and extensive labours for the same 
great objects. The present societies, created and directed 
by the fathers, have afforded their sons, among other ad- 
vantages, that most important one of useful and improving 
employment for their leisure. In multitudes of instances 
they have led to the formation of characters amiable for 
their philanthropy, valuable for their intelligence and pu- 
rity, and promising by their practical knowledge, and the 
excellent influence they already exercise in their youthful 
sphere. Thousands of them are at this moment active and 
responsible members of societies, whose express objects are 
the good of others: and while it is a most agreeable sight 
to witness their labours in literary associations. Sabbath- 
schools, Bible, Tract, and Temperance societies, it is no 
less gratifying to trace out the influence which systematic 

4 



34 PROMOTION OF LEARNING. 

beneficence produces upon their habits, minds, and affec- 
tions, and diffuses among their family and social circles. 
And how important are these influences in a population of 
nearly 250,000 ! But a view of what has been done, and 
■what is doing in this great city by the good and the intelli- 
gent, leads the mind to consider what ought to be or may 
yet be effected. 

And surely, with all the advantages offered by New- York 
for the procuring and the diffusion of knowledge, more 
should be undertaken for the benefit of public intelligence. 
This city should be the centre of learning for the Union. 
No other place in the country can possibly enjoy the advan- 
tages she has to become such ; yet some of our cities and 
villages have turned to so much better account what means 
they have possessed, that they have become literary in a 
tenfold greater proportion. The public schools are the best 
large ones in the country, excepting those of Boston ; and 
in some departments are far superior to them. Some of 
the private schools are good : but the vast majority, par- 
ticularly of the fashionable ones, are miserably defective. 
Columbia College and the University are very respectable 
institutions for the higher branches of learning, while the 
Mercantile Library Association, the Apprentices' Library, 
the City Library, the Athenajum, &:c., afford valuable means 
of self-instruction to their various classes of readers. Un- 
fortunately, the talents of the learned are kept too much 
out of sight, and are of course too much underrated by the 
public, who scarcely know that they exist. Attempts have 
been made, from time to time, to establish monthly maga- 
zines of different descriptions, but they have never flour- 
ished well ; for writers of acknowledged talent cannot be 
procured without a reasonable reward, and the publishers 
are not often disposed to hazard a large sum on an uncer- 
tainty. If such men, however, were employed in writing 
for publication, how much better it would be for tlie country 
than to leave them in the retirement of their families or of 
their professions. 

There is, therefore, yet much to be done by the inhabitants 
of New- York for the promotion of knowledge ; and to the 



NEW-YORK STEAMBOATS. 35 

rising generation, I think, we may safely look for it, as well 
as for the execution of still more extensive projects of 
benevolence. And on this hope we may rely without the 
charge of being visionary in any degree ; for the means are 
daily increasing, and the hands are multiplying and strength- 
ening by which it is to be accomplished. 

But 1 have been wandering from my subject, and can 
seek an excuse for indulging in such elevating topics only 
in the ennobling view presented by the Bay of New- York, 
to the traveller who crosses it in one of the great steam- 
boats which daily skim over its surface. Were the shores 
but of an elevation corresponding with the other features 
of the scene, there would be nothing to regret b^ the 
friend of the picturesque. Staten Island approaches nearer 
than any other part of the surrounding land to what we 
might wish to see on every side, and presents a pleasing 
swell, with a variety of lines and hues in its enclosures and 
crops, the village, and the spacious Quarantine edifices. 
There are some pretty spots, with pleasant shades, enjoying 
a view of a water scene, animated by the frequent passage 
of the finest steamboats. 

These vessels have now become improved and refined, 
apparently almost to the grade of rational beings. They 
seem to a passenger on board half conscious of the prom- 
ises held out by the newspapers of their speed and punc- 
tuality, of the hour when their arrival may be expected, and 
the anxiety of those who await them ; and quite familiar 
with the shoals and landing-places. You feel their emo- 
tions, at least their straining and labour under your feet. 
When you observe their movements from a distance, they 
appear still more as if endued with life and thought. A 
boat, with a beautiful model and elegant proportions, comes 
flying over the water almost without disturbing it, rounds a 
point, and directs her rapid course towards a landing-place. 
You see that her speed is known, and that her punctuality 
has been established by long and regular practice : for the 
persons who have come from a distance to embark have yet 
scarcely reached the shore, or are just appearing in view ; 
and the landlord remains at his door until she has reached 



86 A STEAMBOAT LANDING. 

a certain spot, and then leaves it just in time to meet her 
by a leisurely walk. There is no hurry, because there is 
no irregularity and no uncertainty. She cuts the water, but 
with as little spray as a knife makes in dividing a loaf of 
bread. There is merely a little rising of the surface under 
the bow, the wheels scarcely splash the sides of the boat 
as they revolve, and the water joins again under the stern, 
leaving only a smooth cicatrice upon the surface. She ap- 
proaches the shore like a hound nosing out his own kennel ; 
her wheels desist, and she floats on silently as a feather. 
For a moment she stops to press against the wharf, and the 
post to which she is daily fastened : the wheels move gently 
back, and she is in her place. A little mustering is seen 
forward, about as much as is witnessed at a horse-shoeing 
at a country blacksmith's, and she is again on her way. 
Not a loud word has been spoken ; yet in that busy moment, 
Mr. Smith's family have landed, with their fourteen trunks ; 
Thomas Brown has saluted his wife, and bidden farewell 
till to-morrow ; one has landed to shoot or fish in the neigh- 
bourhood, another has shipped his horse and gig for his own 
stable in the city, or a basket of beans for the market, while 
farewell is waved by friends and acquaintances to mer- 
chants, fishermen, and others, and the correspondence of 
the neighbourhood is thrown upon deck in the little mail- 
bag. Away flies the boat, followed with a few nods and 
gazes, to return again at the fixed hour, and renew the 
scene. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Sea-shore — Long Branch — Bathing — Scenery — Shipwrecks — 
Forms of Danger and Modes of Escape. 

Long Branch is a favourite resort to the citizens of 
New- York, and still more so to those of Philadelphia, 
although they have to perform a long monotonous ride, over 
a sandy path, across a pine plain to reach it, while the route 
from New- York is by steam, excepting four of the last 
miles. A description of the place may be given in a few 
words ; yet nothing short of a visit to it, and a long 
♦ familiarity with its aspect in different states of weather, 
will give any person an adequate idea of its attractions. 

I had visited many points of our more northern sea-coast 
before I saw Long Branch, but had found none of them re- 
sembling it in all its striking characteristics. Here a smooth 
and handsome plain extends to the very borders of the sea. 
You have no indication of your approach to it in the bleak 
hills, beds of sand, masses of rock, or clusters of fishing- 
huts, which in other places generally prepare you for what 
you are to behold. On the contrary, when you look out 
from the hard-jolting Jersey wagon in which you are trans- 
ported across the state, or from the steamboat-landing at 
Red Bank, you see retired farms or small villages, or more 
frequently a smooth road overshadowed by forest-trees, 
such as you would suppose might extend a hundred miles 
in any direction. You are surprised, therefore, when, as 
the horses turn in front of the hotel, you find the grassy 
plain suddenly terminating, and at the depth of forty feet 
beneath, observe the roar and tumult of the never-ceasing 
waves rolling from the very horizon. 

Little arbours have been erected on the verge of the 
sandy precipice, furnished with seats, and covered with 

4* 



38 LONG BRANCH. 

green boughs, where you may at any hour of a clear day 
enjoy an agreeable shade, and the sight of a white beach 
extending several miles to the right and left, continually 
lashed by the billows of the ocean. At night the scene is 
often still finer than by day; for then, the eyes being less 
called into requisition amid the general obscurity, the ear 
is more sensible to the sounds which fall upon it, and the 
feelings are in a singular manner affected by the roar, dash- 
ing, and concussions of near and distant waves. Some of 
these are dimly seen, and others only heard as they strike 
Upon some more remote part of the shore. 

The sandy precipice appears to be everywhere slowly 
crumbling and wearing away. Why it is able to resist at 
all the unintermitted violence of the immense power which 
is continually directed against h, is at first not easily ex- 
plained. At this season of the year there is a beautiful 
bank of white sand formed for its protection, a little in ad- 
vance, which extends with the greatest uniformity as far as 
the eye can reach, and suffers not a drop of the water to 
pass beyond it, except when the spray is driven much higher 
than usual during a violent easterly storm. In the warmer 
seasons, when you descend from the precipice, therefore, 
you find yourself for a moment shut out from the view of 
the ocean, by the intervention of the summit of this bank, 
which may be about twenty-five feet above the level of the 
water ; and after surmounting that, you tread the hard beach, 
which descends with a smooth and gentle slope, and is 
swept every few seconds by another and another wave that 
here spends the force it has exerted, perhaps, over hundreds 
of miles of water without intermission. Nature never acts 
without doing something to gratify the taste of man, either 
for the beautiful or the sublime, and very often consults it 
in both. While the thundering roar of the sea was every 
moment striking upon my ears, and the successive deluges 
that flooded the lower part of the beach seemed sufficient 
to tear rocks in pieces, it was pleasing to see how effectu- 
ally its violence was tamed, and its power harmlessly spent, 
by the ascent of the beach. By directing its course up an 
Liclined plane, its impulse was gradually lost, and the water 



BATHING ON THE COAST. 39 

spontaneously sunk back, like a feeble child after an effort, 
falling again into the arms of its mother. The highest 
point gained by the strongest waves was marked by a 
waving line of sea-weeds, gracefully festooned on the 
smooth sand for miles in length. Children, who delight to 
gather shells from the brim of old ocean's bowl, may safely 
stray down to this line, and do often venture far below it ; 
but sometimes our whole party was seen flying before a giant 
wave, which hurried at our heels, as if to terrify us for 
encroaching too far on the empire of the sea. 

One great pleasure in visiting a scene like this, is to wit- 
ness the natural influence which the aspects of the ocean 
have upon the human mind. The gay and young, who are 
brought in crowds by wealthy parents from the capitals, 
may stand side by side with the solitary invalid, or the 
fisherman's son, and all participate in the same feelings. 
We may hear of the good beds, the fine dinners, or some- 
times of the choice wine furnished to visiters at Long 
Branch ; but I am happy to believe that most of those who 
love the place love it for its natural, its real beauties, and 
go home better than they came. Certain it is, that friendships 
may be here cultivated which will be valuable elsewhere, 
and that impressions worth possessing may be communicated 
to the young and the old. The scenes which present them- 
selves to the opening eye, and the sounds which strike upon 
the ear, tend to prepare the feelings for useful instructions ; 
and if the parent seeks opportunities to convey them, a more 
favourable place could hardly be found among our fashion- 
able resorts. 

On this subject I may, perhaps, say something in the 
way of brief hints hereafter. For myself, unhappily, I did 
not come well provided with the means of self-instruc- 
tion ; but I cannot here stop to lament my ignorance or 
neglect, for I had soon other things to think of. I had de- 
scended to the beach with a company of bathers, and was 
deluged by a roaring wave that suddenly rolled up and 
engulfed us all. Then it was that I first fully realized the 
amount of water-power (as the too technical term is) which 
is constantly wasted upon the coast, and the cause of the 



40 BATHING ON THE COAST. 

sand-banks which mark the margin of the ocean in all 
climates and regions. I was suddenly lifted up, rolled this 
way and that, and then drawn downwards by a force I had 
neither time, energy, nor skill enough to oppose, and felt for 
a moment as if I had owed my life to a neighbour who held 
me up by my bathing-robe. As the returning flood rushed 
by me, bushels of pebbles rolled rapidly over my naked feet 
and against my ancles, as if resolved to deprive me of my 
only support. Instead of retreating to dry ground, as I 
wished to do, my companions hurried much farther down, 
apparently drawing me with them, to meet another wave, 
which came foaming on more violently than its predecessor ; 
and, before I had recovered from the stupifying effect of the 
former, I felt myself sealed up tighter and longer than be- 
fore : eyes, ears, nose, mouth, breath, and all. How little 
like a man does a man feel in such circumstances ! Plunged 
in an element foreign to his nature, the use of all his senses 
entirely suspended, unless the growling in the ears is to be 
called hearing, and the sensation of cold and wetness is 
feeling — the legs useless, because the feet are lifted above 
terra firma, or rather the sand and water moving below 
you ! This is one of the cases in which a native American 
citizen may be suddenly disfranchised. What benefit did I 
derive at that time from my birth-right ? Of what use was 
it to me that there were written laws, courts, jurors, lawyers, 
and judges, that I might have claimed the rights of a citizen 
in any state of the Union, when here, not twenty feet from 
high-water mark, I might be taken feloniously, with malice 
aforethought, and thrown into the jaws of such a beast of a 
billow, exposed to death, or at least put into great consterna- 
tion 1 Is there no statute for such case made and provided ? 
Is there no writ that will issue against the perpetrators of 
such an enormity? Who is safe? Who can boast of the 
privilege of existing in this republic, while the very judge 
on the bench, or just off it, if he happens to step into the 
water at Long Branch, may be thus suddenly deprived of 
every right dear to nature ? 

All this, and more, perhaps, passed through my mind while 
I remained submerged ; but I can give no adequate idea of 



SHIPWRECKS. 41 

the state of desperation in which I remained, until I found 
my head above water, and felt at liberty to breathe, to look, 
and to speak. What I was prepared to say I need not here 
record, for it was never uttered. The power which had so 
unceremoniously drawn me into the water was not that of a 
rude companion, as I might have supposed, but the irre- 
sistible torrent which had also borne away my old friends. 
These now reappeared with me, and were standing beside 
me, overwhelmed with a torrent of laughter, and quite un- 
able to answer my angry interrogatories. My vexation, 
perhaps, still more excited their mirth, which soon showed 
itself in a manner that I could not resist ; and after forgetting 
my late embarrassment, I consented to descend once more 
into the brine, and had on the whole a delightful bath. 

By a remarkable provision of nature, which seems de- 
signed for benevolent purposes as well as that which has 
thrown up the sandbeach, a partial barricade of the same 
material is generally found heaped up by the waves at a 
considerable distance from the shore, over which the ap- 
proaching billows ftrst turn m foam, and beghi to lose their 
force. Its position is marked by a white line, which the 
eye can trace for miles up and down, parallel to the sinuosi- 
ties of the shore, and everywhere serving the same pur- 
pose. Such bars have sometimes proved of use, by re- 
ceiving vessels when driving on towards a rocky shore be- 
fore an irresistible storm ; and many a published account of 
a shipwreck makes mention of them. In many cases, how- 
ever, vessels have only remained upon these outer bars 
until so strained as to leak dangerously; and then, after 
being beaten over them by the force of repeated waves, have 
sunk before reaching the shore. 

Every tiling relating to shipwrecks is of interest along 
this coast, where multitudes of vessels of different sizes have 
been lost, and where fragments of old decks, spars, &c. fur- 
nish the scattering farm-houses with much of their fuel, and 
remind the visiter, during his strolls on the beach, of the 
dreadful disasters and sufferings of which it is almost an- 
nually the scene. As being wrecked is too often inevitable 
here, how to be wrecked most scientifically becomes a ques- 



42 SHIPWRECKS. 

tion of importance. Strange as it may sound, there is such 
a thing as running a ship on shore elegantly, and meriting 
the command of a larger vessel by losing a smaller one in 
the right manner. Suppose, for instance, that one of the 
ships frequently to be seen here on the horizon, instead of 
shunning this shore as they are fain to do, should be blown 
by an irresistible wind towards it, until it became evident 
that it must strike. It is now left to the master to deter- 
mine whether she shall lie with her side or her stern to the 
waves after she has ceased to float. If that the flat stern 
should receive their full force, like St. Paul's ship at Melita, 
the vessel could not long resist the shocks, which are violent 
almost beyond calculation. If she should present her side 
in an inclined position, the waves would waste a part of their 
force upon it as they do upon the beach ; but then the con- 
dition of the crew would be forlorn, as the sea must make 
what is called a fair breach over her. But there is a possi- 
bility, in some cases, by the exercise of much skill, of lay- 
ing a ship ashore in a still more favourable position, viz. so 
that the waves shall strike her buws and cut iheuiselves in 
two. If the captain and his men retain their self-possession 
to the last moment, the vessel may possibly be made to 
wear just before she strikes, and touch the ground stern first. 
If after this she is not turned too far by the wind or the sea, 
her situation is tolerably comfortable for a desperate one. 
But then other dangers are to be apprehended. A ship 
seldom is materially injured by the first contact with the 
ground; but terrible leaks are often produced afterward by 
her being repeatedly lifted up by the waves and dropped 
again upon the hard bottom by their sudden retiring. If, 
after this, as has been already remarked, she is carried into 
deep water, unless the pumps can keep her hold from fill- 
ing too fast, she must sink, and probably every person on 
board, as well as the cargo, will go down with her. 

In several instances, which were mentioned to me by 
some of the older inhabitants of this dangerous coast, the 
tops of masts peeping out of the water between the shoal 
and the beach, have given the first intimation of melancholy 
midnight-wrecks. It is comparatively more common, I be- 



SHIPWRECKS. 43 

lieve, on approaching the shore in the morning, to see some 
fine vessel fixed upon the shoal, with her spars partly gone, 
and partly loaded with signals of distress, and her decks 
either crowded with anxious suflerers, or swept of those 
who might have told of the events of the night. 

But the danger above mentioned is sometimes passed in 
safety. Some vessels are borne over the shoal with greater 
or less injury, and landed, not gently, perhaps, but perma- 
nently, upon the beach, which now presents to our eyes so 
fine a sight, so safe and beautiful a walk. But ah ! how 
different a spot to them, when the fury of an equinoctial 
storm is raging, which every autumn drives back the beach 
some sixty or eighty feet, so that the slope commences at 
the sandy cliff itself, over which the billows attempt to 
break, and which is often rendered almost unapproachable 
by the spray. 

When a vessel has once been thrown upon this beach, the 
danger of sinking is past, and the ocean immediately 
begins to employ itself actively for the security of the ves- 
sel and cargo, as well as for the protection of those on 
board against further damage. The force of the wind, and 
still more that of successive waves, is employed to push it 
further and further up the acclivity, and nearer to the dry 
land ; and after the hull has remained stationary for a short 
time, a stronger wave rolls in, which rises higher than its 
immediate predecessors, holds it an instant afloat again, 
and thrusts it unceremoniously a little further up the steep ; 
then retiring, leaves it, perhaps, in the spot where it is to 
fall piece-meal, and where its keel is to decay. Besides the 
power of the waves rolling in from the ocean, the ship- 
Avrecked vessel and her unfortunate crew find benefit from 
their retirement : for as each wave flows back again down 
the descending beach, it bears rapidly over its smooth sur- 
face cart-loads of the loose pebbles and sand which so 
much incommode the inexperienced bather. Their quantity, 
and the size of the beach-stones, are increased by the vio- 
lence of the waves in a gale, and the process of grinding 
gravel into sand is vastly facilitated. This mass of moving 
substances is ready to accumulate rapidly against every 



44 SHIPWRECKS. 

obstacle that is fixed sufficiently to resist it in its descent ; 
and no sooner is a vessel left to rest upon the beach, than a 
bank begins to be formed of sand and stones deposited there 
by the retiring waves. A causey thus self-constructed from 
the wreck to the shore has in some instances offered the 
crew the earliest means of escape ; and in particular cir- 
cumstances may have proved their only safety. If a vessel 
should thus be thrown upon a beach when the tide is near 
its ebb, and the bank be formed in time to allow the ci-ew 
opportunity to escape over it to the land at low water, they 
would be saved the hazards attending another flood-tide, the 
floating of the ship again, with perhaps a change of wind 
that might drive it into deep water and sink it : to say 
nothing of a prolonged exposure to wet, cold, fear, fatigue, 
and hunger. 

The ship which has been thrown upon such a beach as 
this, nearly at the height of the tide, and for which the sea 
is rapidly constructing an embankment to the shore, is per- 
haps in the most favourable and hopeful condition in which 
a wreck can be situated. Yet how replete with inconve- 
niences, with distresses and dangers, is such a situation to 
those on board ! The disaster may have occurred within a 
brief hour of the time when the crew had indulged sanguine 
hopes of escape from serious injury by the storm, or when, 
after prolonged labours, sufferings, and apprehensions, they 
have neither physical nor mental energy to endure their 
present trials, or to avail themselves of any favourable cir- 
cumstances in their situation. They are probably ignorant 
of the coast on which they are thrown, and involved in the 
obscurity of an atmosphere troubled with tempests, sur- 
charged with mist, rain, or flying spray, and perhaps dark- 
ened by night. Thus the mariner is often kept in anxious 
suspense, and apprehends the utmost danger even when his 
escape is almost secured. Sometimes, acting under ill- 
founded apprehensions of their prospects, lives have been 
unnecessarily exposed and sacrificed ; boats have been 
prematurely launched and swamped on spots which in a 
short time might have been passed on foot dry-shod. But 
how can men be expected always to form and act upon cor- 



MEANS OF RESCUE. 46 

rect opinions, in circumstances so trying and so doubtful ? 
Who can distinguish between a thousand different parts of 
our coast, even in the clearest weather, and when sailing 
safely and prosperously by, even with time to reflect, 
and to consult books and charts ? The hundreds of 
miles which intervene along the Atlantic border from near 
Sandy Hook to the Cape of Florida, present, with but 
few exceptions, one uniform appearance : low lands and 
swamps faced with beaches, over which a forest alone is 
generally distinguishable, with no prominent mountains or 
conspicuous capes to give bearings, and few secure harbours 
to offer a refuge. This singular part of the coast, at Long 
Branch and its vicinity, extending for about six miles, is 
said to be distinguished by one peculiarity, from every other 
part of the seaboard of the United States. Here alone the 
arable land extends to the very verge of Neptune's domains, 
and here are seea the only corn-fields whose outer rows are 
salted by the spray of the ocean. But this trait, however 
agreeable and striking to the land traveller, and valuable to 
the farmer who reaps the harvests, affords little advantage 
to the navigator in enabling him to ascertain his position. 

How important are some of the devices which the humane 
and ingenious have invented for the rescue of their fellow- 
beings exposed to death by shipwreck ! " I have both talked 
and written to men of influence," said a plain farmer of this 
vicinity to me, " on the importance of supplying us with the 
means of saving men from death, who are every season 
cast within our view, in the midst of perils which they might 
escape with our aid, if we had a simple apparatus placed at 
our command, by which a rope might be throvi'n from a gun 
to a ship on shore." Repeated instances he referred to, in 
which crews had been lost widiin a short distance of the 
land, in most, if not all of which, he felt confident, such an 
apparatus might have been effectual. The result of his 
remarks was to convince me, that the subject is of sufficient 
importance to justify the appropriation of a liberal sum of 
money by our government, to inquire for facts and opinions, 
and to make experiments. If it should be judged practica- 
ble, after this, another appropriation should be made to carry 

5 



46 NEW-YORK. 

a good plan into effect. Whatever the apparatus might be, 
whether life-boats of the best construction, or guns, or mor- 
tars for throwing ropes, it should be mounted on carriages, 
supplied with harness, and placed in the charge of some 
humane and responsible individual, or at the direction of the 
town-authorities. From the interest felt by the respectable 
inhabitants of this part of the coast, in the safety of men, 
and sometimes females, thus exposed to desperate hazards 
and sufferings under their eyes, I am persuaded that the 
most laudable exertions would ever be made for their safety. 
For my own part, if I were to be shipwrecked, I would 
willingly trust myself to the care of the hardy and humane 
individuals whom I have known in this vicinity. Those 
alone who have had experience in the delicate task of con- 
ducting a common boat through the surf and over the 
breakers, can now be trusted to transport men to the land, 
even when the sea is but in a moderate state of agitation ; 
but if life-boats were at hand, other arms might be employed 
in an emergency, beside those of the most skilful fisher- 
men. 



CHAPTER VII. 

New-York — Books — The Apparatus of Literature — Conversations 
with Booksellers on Public Taste, &c. — A Friend returned from a 
Tour to Europe — Foreign Feelings and Ignorance respecting Ame- 
jica — Varying aspects of the Streets of the Metropolis — Impressions 
from observing them. 

It is strange to see how much better the public taste is 
often understood by booksellers than authors ; and with 
what certainty they can sometimes foretel the fate of a book 
after hearing only a brief description of it, or after glancing 
at the table of contents or the title-page, than the man 
who studied and laboured over the pages for months or 
years, and lay awake whole nights to cut and piece it in 
conformity with the state of society. This fact, which no 



PRINTING-OFFICES, &C. 47 

one can doubt after proper inquiry, is so much in opposition to 
common rules applying to other subjects, that I sought light 
on it while in New- York. We always should expect to 
find a tailor better acquainted with the size of his customers' 
shoulders than anybody else, and more likely to discover 
whether a coat be too narrow to fit, too long in the sleeves, 
or too tight under the arms. But it is not so with your author 
and his work. He deliberates for weeks or mouths upon 
his subject, then upon his plan, then on the size of his book, 
the mode and time for its appearance ; and after having 
fixed all these, and changed his intention over and over 
again, and at length completed his work as he finally deter- 
mines, he is the most anxious man in the nation till he 
ascertains whether he has succeeded or failed. This he 
now feels utterly unable to judge of, until he has facts to 
form an opinion upon, and actually sees whether or not his 
book has sold. But not so with the bookseller. He has 
rules, or instinct, or some other guide, by which he often can 
judge of the fate of a work, before it has been grasped after 
or rejected by a single customer ; and, as if by some secret 
electricity, a uniform presentiment concerning a book some- 
times pervades the whole trade from the moment of its ap- 
pearance, or even from a very early period after its an- 
nouncement. 

There are cases in which they have experience to refer 
to, and then they may prejudge as we might the shoemaker, 
w4io had pinched us in the toes, and was about to shoe a 
neighbour with still larger feet than our own. But, in the 
great majority of cases, the bulk of the booksellers do not 
know the author, or are not well acquainted with the subject 
on which he writes, or both, and therefore cannot judge of 
what is to come from what has happened. 

To show what kind of satisfaction I got from some con- 
versation on books during my stay in New- York, I will 
give a brief recapitulation of what I heard in some of the 
printing-offices and book-stores. Some of these are exceed- 
ingly large and rich ; and the grand review of the whole 
typographic park and batteries of the capital is worthy 
of the attention of an intelligent traveller. Tiie mqst mag- 



48 NEW-YORK. 

nificent presses in the world are racking and groaning in a 
hundred different streets, from Messrs. Harper's mammoth 
power-press downwards, like so many mills for grinding the 
wheat, bran, and shorts with which even the almost insatia- 
ble literary appetite of the American public is surfeited. 
The four or five principal stereotype-foundries are also 
very large establishments, some of which are connected 
with type-foundries, and printing-ofiices of twenty and thirty 
presses. 

" My friend," said a most intelligent and virtuous South 
American just from Europe, on entering a spacious room 
where two rows of men were casting types in the old way, 
one at a time ; " my friend, despotism will never prevail 
against us." On being introduced, however, into a place 
where twenty boys, with machines, were doing the work of 
forty men, he was lost in surprise and pleasure, and declared 
that he almost pitied the poor despots who had to contest 
against such weapons so rapidly forged, and so irresistible. 
The truth is, we ought to exhibit the press to our children, 
as a machine little understood, and consequently much 
abused. It would be an improving lesson to every child to 
be led to the village printing-office once a year, and hear 
comments on the nature, history, and uses of this great im- 
plement of civilization, morality, and religion. 

But to return to book-store conversation. " Have you 
seen the new number of this magazine ? It is astonishingly 
popular. The publisher had but one course to pursue, and 
he took the right one. He had not capital enough to spend 
a large sum at once, to pay an editor of known talents, and 
therefore could not expect his support from the learned. 
So he got it up as handsomely as he knew how, and has 
taken measures to have it well puffed in the newspapers. 
The consequence is, that he has had great success." I 
saw this publisher; and remarked to him that his merits, as 
I had understood, were generally acknowledged. Yes, he 
replied, he had taken good care about that. It would be in 
vain, he said, if any man should expect his works to be 
esteemed, if the newspapers did not commend them over 
and over again ; and to secure this end means must be used. 



CONVERSATIONS WITH BOOKSELLERS. 49 

« If I should lie down under my counter, and expect the 
public to give me credit for my merits, they would never 
know or care whether I had any or not. They would not 
know whether it was a man or a dog there in the dark. So 
I have given my numbers as good an appearance and as 
great a variety as possible, and now shall be able to do 
what I please, with such patronage as I enjoy." I expressed 
a hope that his periodical would soon aim to exceed the best 
of its class in other countries. Yes, he hoped it would be 
an honour to our own, by having no superior in the world. 
He had taken great pains to get such paper as is used in 
England, and was to put a cover on the next number of the 

same colour and devices as the London , which was 

extremely elegant, and universally admired. Literature, 
thought I, has abundant reason to smile at her prospects in 
America, or rather to laugh at them ! Lucky that none of 
the foreign tourists were present to tell this story abroad ! 

" You may blame us as much as you please," said another 
publisher ; " I have no more public spirit, perhaps, than the 
rest of my craft, but I have at least no objection to my books 
having real merit, or to their being written by Americans. 
At any rate, I have made some exertions to secure both, 
and paid a good deal of money. But all the blame does 
not rest with us. We must sell our books, or we must stop 
printing : that is very clear. If then there is nobody to in- 
form the public of the merits of different works, how will 
they ever know them 1 You literary gentlem.en do not 
establish reviews in which the public place much confidence, 
and, what is worse, you do not read one half the books 
which appear while they are fresh, as you say, for want of 
time. You must settle that with your consciences — I do 
not pretend to judge you. You will not attempt to improve 
or even to direct public taste, and have left it to itself and 
to us. Now judge whether we have done our duty better 
than yourselves or not. We had to begin with a low taste, 
and have had to raise it, if it has been raised. Well, we 
did it in what we believe to be the only way in our power. 
We have always endeavoured to print as good books as the 
public could be brought to read, and have more than once 

5* 



50 NEW-YORK. 

overshot our mark, perhaps, without ever falling below it. 
The result thus far has been a perceptible and general im- 
provement in certain classes of books ; and as we are 
encouraged in pursuing our course, we intend to persist in it, 
and hope to see still more important results. 

"But to give you an idea," continued the bookseller, "of 
the form and circumstances under which public taste ap- 
pears to our craft. A publisher, perhaps, pays a young man 
who has a profession and leisure a hundred dollars to make 
a volume of newspaper scraps, and put some odd name to 
it : or he'll meet with a manuscript of the Adventures of 
Timothy Terrible, or some other well-known individual, 
and will bargain with the author for it. By the time it 
has been out a fortnight, we have orders for the whole 
edition, and half another. A correspondent writes from the 
South, — The fifty Timothy T. received, and please send us 
seventy-five more. From the North we get, — Please send, 
on receipt of this, one hundred copies of Tim. Terrible. 
—P. S. By first boat. 

" Well, we think we'll try a little more American literature, 
as that appears to be rising. Come, we'll give 'em some- 
thing a little solid. So we come out, we will suppose, with 
a learned work on the History, Character, and Conduion of 
the Crim Tartars, past, present, and to come ; and almost 
simultaneously with the Life and Writings of General Some- 
body, one of the greatest men in our Republican history, 
the property of the nation. For each of these we'll suppose 
we pay eight hundred dollars, — cash, you understand. 
Well, our customers, in about ten days, begin to write, — 
Send us no more Generals or Crim Tartars. They don't 
go down. — N.B. Too dry and too true. Gentlemen, we 
send you back forty-nine Crim Tartars and all the Generals. 
They don't suit our market. Now mind, here's two octavo 
volumes : investment on each about three thousand, yes, 
thirty-five hundred dollars, including copy-right. Well, they 
are good books, that is, so people say ; and they sell easy 
along, one here and one there. But here comes in old 
Squire Jones, or Colonel West, or some such gentleman, and 
takes one of these books. * Well,' he says, ' here's a work 



CONVERSATION WITH BOOKSELLERS. 51 

I'm glad to see. I know the author, sir, and he's a man of 
sterUng merit. Why I knew him when your father was so 
high. Yes, sir, that book ought to sell — it will sell — don't 
you find it so?' ' Why, yes, colonel, I suppose it would, if 
everybody had your penetration. How many shall I send 
you V *■ Oh, oh, why, I don't know, I have no time to read 
just now; but perhaps I'll call in some time when 1 have. 
I suppose I can get it any day this month, can't I V ' Yes, 
I'm afraid so, or next year either.' Well, Dr. Studious 
expresses his pleasure at the appearance of a book so pro- 
found on the Crim Tartars. * Come here, sir, I'll sit 
down and tell you what I know about the author and his 
faithful investigations into his subject.' ' Why, doctor,' 
says I, * I think you had better read the book, and give me 
a short pithy recommendation of it for the information of the 
public. My own opinion is already made up.' ' Why, 
sir,' says the doctor, ' I have a share in a library, where I 
expect to find it ; and if I should want it, perhaps youll 
have a cheaper edition by-and-by.' 

" Now so it goes ; and while I'm talking with one of the 
learned gentlemen, two or three men come in, and want 
eight or ten Timothy Terribles a piece ; and the amount of 
it is, that while we must wait two or perhaps three years to 
get a profit of six or seven hundred dollars on an investment 
of thirty-five hundred, in six months we run off two editions 
of a work that we've got up for six hundred dollars each, 
and have cleared, perhaps, a thousand, besides the stereo- 
type-plates ready for more. Encouraging solid literature 
and American authors is a good thing to talk about, it sounds 
very well ; and I should like much to practise it more and 
more. It is easy to say, O, its all the publisher's fault, — 
you've no business to print such trash, and you should not 
go out of the country so much for books. But here you 
see are the facts. Now what are you going to do in such 
a case ? 

" Go and ask the learned and the good, the intelligent 
and the influential, why they can't take the trouble to 
examine works as they appear, or before, and let their 
countrymen know which are good and which bad. A few 



52 NEW-YORK. 

just commendations would seal the success of good works 
and good writers, now overlooked and unknown ; and a few 
good death-blows against bad books would kill, along with 
the works, their authors, and perhaps the taste which sus- 
tains them." 

" I want ten Timothy Terrible," said a customer, inter- 
rupting the speaker. " Excuse me, sir," said he, breaking 
off, " for talking so long about this matter. I only want to 
let you understand that it is not all the fault of the book- 
sellers. Hadn't you better take twenty copies, sir ?" 

An intelligent, pure, and warm-hearted friend, just landed 
from Europe, grasped my hand at a corner. Amid the bustle 
of Broadway, he had recognised my countenance ; and out 
of the thousands of names which must have struck his ears 
since we had met, he found mine ready on his tongue, like 
one still near his heart. What feelings such a meeting ex- 
cites. How gratifying to find such a friend, though changed, 
yet the same. His observant eyes, how much they must 
have seen ; his discriminating and original mind, how much 
it must have accomplished in dividing the gold from the 
dross ; his rich memory, how its stores must have been 
enlarged ! His grasp and his eye told how foreign scenes 
had warmed his heart for home, and assured me that I had 
a key to all its treasures. 

" The view I have taken of Europe," said he, " has put 
my mind into new trains of thought, in which I have been 
indulging during my voyage homeward. And what a com- 
panion is the sea, what associates are the waves and storms 
for one who is occupied with subjects of interest and im- 
portance ! The United States, imperfectly known as they 
are, exercise a most powerful sway upon the most influential 
minds of Europe. They constantly contemplate us, and 
admire and hope, through a crooked glass and misty air. 
Their views are very imperfect ; their conceptions crude 
and often erroneous ; and we have as much reason, perhaps, 
to regret the over-estimates made of us on some points, as 
the oversight of our advantages or merits on others. I regret 
to say that the best informed men of Britain appear, so far 
as I can speak from knowledge, exceedingly ill acquainted 



FOREIGN VIEWS OF AMERICA. 53 

with the geography as well as the institutions and state of 
society in this country. We are, indeed, perhaps, too much 
inclined to be surprised at this and to pity it. We converse 
of England with every advantage, because our very school- 
books, as well as our libraries, were English, until within our 
own recollection ; and many of us in our earliest years were 
taught more of their history, geography, biography, and even 
ecclesiastical and political affairs, than of our own. But their 
course of education, in all its grades, has little more refer- 
ence to America than it had before Columbus sailed from 
Spain. Their instructors want teaching before they can be 
competent on this branch of knowledge ; and whence then 
is it possible for the people to be well informed of our con- 
dition 1 Our teachers, on the contrary, our fathers and our 
countrymen, until recently, have directed almost all their 
attention to foreign lands, and read only foreign books. 
When therefore intelligent men in England, Scotland, and 
Ireland expressed their surprise at my familiarity with 
English books and men, the geography and scenery of the 
country, I could not but feel that they over-estimated it, 
because they contrasted it with their own ignorance of 
America. 

" We ought to exert ourselves more than we do to inform 
our European brethren concerning our country and our- 
selves, to remove erroneous impressions, and prevent their 
falling into new mistakes. But how shall this be done ? 
Shall we send them our periodical publications or our 
books? Which of them would do us justice, and at the 
same time be instructive to them ? In far too many of our 
writers an aftectation of foreign sentiments and foreign style 
removes every American feature from their productions, while 
in others the perverted views and degraded language of the 
low level from which they have lately risen would at once 
mislead and disgust a person seeking for information con- 
cerning our state and society. Some publications we have 
of an elevated tone, and a just and commanding influence at 
home and abroad. But these are either scientific or devoted 
to literature in general, or at least so much more designed 
for the use of ourselves than of others, that they would not 



91 NEW-YORK. 

serve their purpose. Foreigners are ignorant of the very 
elements of our society. They need to know the indi- 
viduals of whom it is composed, and comprehend the mutual 
action and reaction of domestic life and the public institu- 
tions. They can neither conjecture at the application of 
our laws to our circumstances, nor understand what were 
the circumstances which required them ; much less can they 
explain the effects which are produced. They wonder at 
us, as at a new specimen of mechanism ; and our country 
excites as ill-defined admiration as did the ship May-flower 
among the Indians of Massachusetts Bay, when the Pilgrims 
arrived on the coast. They are slow to ascertain the 
causes of its motion, and never can resolve the forces by 
which it is impelled. Still, here is the object constantly 
before them ; and the more they gaze the more they are in- 
terested. Now I do not see how they are to be taught, 
otherwise than as an apprentice learns his trade. Familiar- 
ize them with the ordinary details, as we are familiarized 
with our own society in childhood. Do we not understand 
Scottish life at different periods of history, through the familiar 
scenes presented by Scott, better than we could learn them 
from almost any investigation we might make into history 
and legislation 1 Let some of their intelligent men come 
and spend months in our families, conforming to the customs 
of the people, and observing, without preconceived opinions, 
how society goes on. After sufficient attention to the 
practical operation of our system, they would be able to 
enlighten others in the grammar of our society. Until this, 
or some equally simple and sensible measure shall be 
adopted, we shall be overrated by some, underrated by 
many, and annually inspected by tourists, who will by turns 
make us laughing-stocks and objects of disgust to ourselves 
and others. 

" But, seriously, this subject has struck me with much 
force. All misrepresentations of us are injurious at home 
and abroad. It is of immense consequence to the world, 
that all mankind should see what we know of the success 
with which political, civil, and religious liberty have been put 
to in effectual, harmonious, and most happy operation among 



FOREIGN RESIDENTS. 55 

US. They ought to know, — what they certainly would if 
they knew us well, — that all men may live in the enjoyment 
of a similar stale of society, whenever circumstances shall 
enable them to try it. They would see, too, that our system 
is not necessarily unfriendly to learning in any of its de- 
grees ; that influence is not necessarily denied to the good 
and allowed to the bad ; that the tendency of things in any 
respect is not to degradation. On the contrary, they would 
learn that knowledge and virtue, being indispensable to the 
state, and vice and debasement of every kind dangerous to 
private, because to public interests, the strongest motives 
exist in such a country to cultivate the purest virtue, and to 
diffuse the utmost knowledge, while facilities, before un- 
known, are daily offered for the propagation of both. 



CHAPTER Vlir. 



New-York continued — Foreign Residents and Visiters — Foreign 

Books. 



New-York is, indeed, multum in parvo, and contains not 
only individuals from most of the travelling nations of the 
earth, but societies of French, Spaniards, Germans, Italians, 
(fee, of considerable extent. For these and others there 
are particular haunts. It is no longer necessary to go 
abroad to see the habits of Europeans : by proper means, a 
gentleman may procure an introduction to respectable and 
friendly foreign residents, whose domestic arrangements 
show much of the peculiarities of their respective coun- 
tries ; while at several boarding-houses, hotels, and eating- 
houses, by taking a single meal, you may get a lively 
sketch of several distant countries at a time. The latest 
comers from Europe and Asia are generally to be seen or 
heard of at Delmonico's in the course of " ordinary" hours ; 
and a person has only to keep his eyes and ears open to get 



56 NEW-YORK. 

some of the ideas they bring with them of the countenance, 
dress, language, manners, and habits of many of his brethren 
of the human race whom he will never see. Now and then 
an individual may be found among our countrymen who 
takes peculiar pleasure in bringing such peculiarities to 

light. 

Such was an old bachelor I could name, of an apparently 
ascetic character, who always looks grave, and never 
smiles. He is very thin, with a sour look, and goes 
wrapped up carefully to the ears, so that he seems to be 
always cold, let the weather be never so pleasant, and 
displeased even if things go on never so well. He takes 
pains to draw foreigners into conversation by using some 
word in their language in speaking to a waiter ; and, 
though he cannot speak a sentence in any foreign tongue, 
with attentive looks and occasional grunts and nods, makes 
them suppose he comprehends all they say, and will some- 
times sit and hear one talk a half hour without betraying 
his ignorance of what is spoken. 

Others, and more rational men, I have known, who liked 
occasionally to resort to such places to familiarize them- 
selves with the languages and habits of different countries. 
This may be made a useful practice ; for as the mind im- 
proves by exercise, so does the heart by expanding its feel- 
ings, and indulging benevolence towards many and various 
subjects. No one can spend a few moments in the society 
of intelligent and virtuous foreigners, without strongly real- 
izing that the study of man is to be pursued among our 
species, and not in a library. There is often great expo- 
sure to the youth in bringing him into contact unguardedly 
with all foreigners he may meet ; but if he is to be taught 
living languages, I would by all means put him among per- 
sons of pure character who speak them, that he might apply 
his views to a legitimate object, viz. the acquisition of valu- 
able facts. 

One is not likely to realize the number of books in foreign 
languages annually demanded in our country, until he sur- 
veys such of the stores as are principally devoted to the 
sale of them. Compared with floods of our own books, it 



FOREIGN BOOKS. 57 

is true they form but a small stream ; but yet they are more 
numerous than would be supposed. It is a pity that there 
are among them so many of the vicious French novels ; but 
it might be expected that the injudicious instruction of so 
many of our youth in a language, which is improperly re- 
garded by many parents as a merely ornamental accom- 
plishment, without any care being taken to make it an intro- 
duction to profitable associates or useful books, would natu- 
rally lead too many to dangerous sources of amusement. 
The truth probably is, that many a French author, unintelli- 
gible to the parent, is in the hands of a child whose fondness 
for it arises from a less commendable source than a love of 
gaining knowledge. O, this business of learning modern 
languages is full of abuses. One abuse, however, some- 
times prevents a greater one. It is a comfort, in this view, 
to reflect, that probably not one in ten of those who pretend 
to learn French ever reads it ; and not one in fifty, perhaps, 
ever speaks it. 

A great deal of science comes mto the country in French 
books, and our physicians are, to a good extent, I believe, 
benefited by it, and of course the people. From Germany 
we now import a great many Greek, Latin, and Hebrew 
works at very low prices, so that multitudes of instructers, 
students, and private gentlemen are, and many more may 
be, furnished with classics, and the Scriptures, in their origi- 
nals, for moderate sums, which would have been most cheer- 
fully paid by some of my friends in years past, and sufiiced 
to fill libraries which were unfortunately too empty. When- 
ever Hebrew, Greek, and Latin shall be as generally taught, 
as easily learnt, and as practically used as they may be, 
the supply of this branch of literature must be swelled many 
times beyond its present bounds. 

The French and German novels form a pernicious mass 
of books, of vast amount, annually disgorged by the press, 
upon a world that is rendered the more truly poor the richer 
it is in such productions. The German light literature (as 
it is called), thanks to their sublimated and ghost-making 
brains, is so strange and uncouth that it can scarcely be 
brought to touch this world, and therefore produces but little 

6 



08 NEW-YORK. 

direct evil influence upon men's lives. Their novels tend to 
draw off the mind to " nonentities and quiddities ;" and as 
it is chiefly objects of sense which, when improperly pre- 
sented, tend to evil, there is a negative advantage in those 
ridiculous phantasies which possess no positive excellence. 
To look at the machinery of such works, you might think 
them weapons raised to afllict the world ; but they are so 
crooked and wavering in the hand, that it is but seldom they 
can be made to hit it to injure. Their writei*s waste time, 
it is true, for their readers ; and by removing the enclosures 
and land-marks of probability and common sense, turn 
minds, like cattle, into estrays ; but still they do not infu- 
riate and madden them as the novel-writers of France. 
Many of these are notoriously vicious and corrupting 
at the present day; for coming down to society as it is, 
packing ofl" ghosts, and releasing virtues, vices, and epithets 
from the personifications in which they have been bound by 
the Germans, they lead up the most corrupt characters, 
arrayed in attractive garbs, and think that whoever can 
sugar over the blackest fiend can make the best book. 
Booksellers themselves, who deal out such works to our 
public, sometimes shudder, like apothecaries, at the deadly 
nature of their poisonous wares. 

I visited a vessel just from Scotland, with about one hun- 
dred and fifty passengers ; and, oh ! the inquiries concern- 
ing friends^ and news, and luggage, and children, — all in a 
broad dialect ! And then the groups of Swiss and German 
emigrants who move about in strange raiment, generally 
taking the middle of the streets, in Indian file, gazing, but, 
from their frequency, no longer a gazing-stock — cocked hats, 
long queues, breeches justified on round their haunches, as 
if never to come ofl". I have heard people complain in this 
country of what " poor folks" must do» But in Europe 
they find, through necessity, they can do ten times more. I 
saw one day a crowd in the street, caused by a momentary 
obstruction. I examined it in passing, and found that an 
Alsatian woman, with a monstrous bundle upon her head, 
and an infant in her arms, had suddenly stopped to pin the 
frock of one of the children who were accompanying her ; 



SCENE FROM BROOKLYN. 59 

and this she at length effected with all her embarrassments, 
and proceeded as if it were no extraordinary thing. 

When we observe the movements of men near at hand, 
the motives of their exertions and the results in which they 
end often excite our laughter ; while, if we contemplate them 
from a distance, and especially in large bodies, there is 
often something impressive and even exalted in the emotions 
which we experience. The very greatness of the mass, 
like the mountain or the sea, swells the mind which embraces 
it, and keeps its faculties, like so many arms and hands, in 
a state of tension, which, if not distressing, is at least so tire- 
some as to remove all disposition to ridicule. When we 
descend to some little subject, the mind finds its powers in 
a great measure unoccupied ; and as this is an unnatural 
state, it seeks employment in making deeper investigations 
and new combinations, which, in the case of a subject 
aboundinof in such self-contradictions and unreasonableness 
as man, must inevitably lead one to pity and another to ridi- 
cule. Historians and warriors understand this matter, and 
endeavour to keep the eye of the world or of posterity fixed 
upon men in masses, or on individuals at a distance. They 
often obscure, conceal, patch up, or pervert the truth, by 
representing the individuals in any thing but their every-day 
dress. 

There is much that is ludicrous in the motley crowds 
rushing through Broadway at diflferent hours ; but when the 
city is seen in one view, the sight is a solemn one. If you 
are called to depart, or if you by any chance arrive, in the 
dead of night, the vacancy and silence of the streets are ex- 
ceedingly impressive. Two hundred and forty thousand 
people obeying the laws of nature at least in repose. The 
dead of night, strictly speaking, lasts but a very short time 
in the principal thoroughfares ; for the termination of the 
play at about twelve, and of fashionable parties at one, keeps 
up a rumbling of carriages for an hour or two, until the most 
remote routes have been performed, and the horses are re- 
turned to their stables. After this is over, half hours and 
even hours of almost total silence sometimes intervene, while 
the watchman, in the dome of the City Hall, proclaims to 



60 NEW-YORK. 

the ears of the sick and the watchful that another day is 
approaching, whether desired or apprehended by them. 

A cannon is fired at break of day on Governor's Island ; 
but before this the lines of milk, bread, and butchers' carts 
are in motion, and some come rattling down the island from 
above, while others are collecting at the ferries on the Long 
Island and Jersey shores, and all are soon dinning the streets. 
From the heights of Brooklyn you may hear their rattling, 
increasing from feeble beginnings, until, joined by the drays 
proceeding from the north to the south part of the city to 
their stands, it swells into an unintermitted roar, like the 
sound of Niagara at Queenston, to stop not till midnight. 
Some time after daylight, while the lamps at the steamboat 
docks are still glimmering, and those in the streets which, 
by mistake, have had oil enough, the first smoke begins to 
rise from the houses of labourers in the upper wards. Some 
five or ten early risers are just putting sparks to wood or 
coal ; and their example is so contagious, that fires are 
speedily blazing in every house and almost every chimney 
in the city. In the cold season this is a singular sight ; and 
when the wind is from the south in the morning, the heavy 
cloud which generally overhangs the city is blown north- 
ward, leaving the Battery in the light of the sun, while many 
of the other parts are deeply obscured. Soon after sunrise, 
floods of daily emigrants from the upper wards, meeting at 
Broadway and Canal-street, pour down to the wharves, the 
mechanics' shops, and the houses in building, many of them 
with convenient little tin-kettles, containing their dinners and 
preparations for heating them, all bound to their work. 
Then come the clerks of all degrees, the youngest generally 
first : and these, in an hour or therebouts, give place to their 
masters, who flow down with more dignity, but scarcely 
less speed, to the counting-rooms of the commercial streets, 
hundreds of them, especially in unfavourable weather, in the 
omnibuses, which render the street so dangerous now and 
at three or four o'clock in the afternoon. Ere these crowds 
have disappeared, they become crossed and mingled with 
some of the fourteen thousand children who go to the public 
and primary schools at nine, and an unknown number who 



Daily scenes. 61 

frequent the private schools of all sorts. Then are seen 
also the students of Columbia College and the University, 
the medicals in winter hurrying to Barclay-street, lawyers, 
clients, and witnesses gathering about the City Hall, the 
Marine, and Ward Courts, with a set of spectators generally 
selected from those classes who have been ruined by the 
same process which is about to be repeated in the name of 
the State. A burnt child dreads the fire, but a singed cat 
loves the chimney-corner. 

The apple-women and orange-men at St. Paul's see a 
motley crowd passing from ten till twelve ; and if it be a 
showery day, the shop-keepers have a good deal of conver- 
sation with chance visiters stepping in for shelter. After this, 
if the sky permits (for bad walking is but a small objection), 
the fashionable promenading begins ; and the window-glass 
has full employment in reflecting the forms and colours of 
dresses which vary with the moon. The movements of the 
crowd are now at common time, instead of the double quick 
step by which the business-man is distinguished. A stranger 
would think that New- York was a city of idleness, gayety, 
and wealth. But let him turn down almost any street at 
the right or left, and enter some of the dwellings of the in- 
dustrious poor, and he would find all were not rich or un- 
occupied ; let him glance at the chambers of others, and he 
would be convinced that some are wretched and in want of 
all things. Yet he need not blame too severely the gay and 
young for being so regardless of the sufferers near them ; they 
know not of their existence, or realize not their own ability 
to aid them. All parents do not estimate the value of en- 
grafting practical and systematic benevolence upon their 
plan of education, and rather teach their children by example 
to despise the poor, than to regard them as beings offering 
occasions of moral self-improvement to the rich. 

But it would be too long to tell all the aspects and fluctu- 
ations of the currents for a single day in the capital, or even 
to trace the course of a single drop, like myself, circulating 
one tour round the system. It is enough that the clocks and 
watches go on with their seconds and hours as if they 
marked no appointments for friendly or formal visits ; no 

6* 



62 THE EAST RIVER. 

periods of payment, for persons who would prefer to keep 
their sixpences or their thousands ; no departures or arrivals 
of cargoes, no changes in stocks — in short, as if prosperity 
or adversity, wealtii or poverty, joy or disappointment were 
not decided by every revolution of the hands for thousands 
of anxious individuals. 

It is a solemn reflection, after the bustle has passed, and 
the traveller again contemplates empty streets and noiseless 
pavements, deserted stores and silent wharves, while weary 
bones are resting, the anxious busy at their dreams, and the 
sick and dying, or their attendants, alone conscious of the 
hour, that two hundred and forty thousand persons have 
spent another day. The time has rapidly passed, but in it 
how many millions of property have changed hands ; what 
applications of capital have been determined upon, which 
will increase the comforts of whole districts of country; 
what plans have been devised by consummate commercial 
skill ; how many a generous deed has been done with 
wealth honourably obtained ; how many a piece of gold 
added to the miser's hoard ! In that short space of time 
how many a tear has been shed by parting friends ; how 
many a smile made by those who have returned ; how many 
a foreigner has first touched the soil of America ; how many 
a traveller, like me, has closed his visit to this busy city ! 



CHAPTER IX. 

Fashions and old Fasliions in Travelling — New- York Harbour — Re- 
treat of Washington's Army from Long Island — The East River — 
Low State of Agriculture caused by our defective Education — Hell 
Gate — Long Island Sound. 

The rapidity of our steamboats and railroad cars deprive 
us of a great many interesting sights and agreeable reflec- 
tions, and prevent us from becoming particularly acquainted 
with any part of our country. The improved vehicles un- 



HABITS. 63 

doubtedly have their advantages ; but while I acknowledg-e 
this evident fact, 1 am not forgetful of those belonging to 
the old and slower modes. I am fond indeed, now and then, 
when time permits, and an interesting region invites, of 
leaving every thing which modern fashion approves in the 
traveller, and betakhig myself to a country stage-coach or 
a farmer's wagon, and feel delight in the rattling wheels and 
the healthful jolting motion of a stony hill ; and sometimes 
like to mount the saddle, and take the road at break of day, 
or set off on foot in company with some chance fellow- 
traveller, to earn an appetite by a long walk before break- 
fast. I am so unfortunate as to have sprung from a race of 
early risers, unacquainted with the luxuries of morning naps, 
and suffer from an infirmity that makes me love morning 
air and athletic exercise. I can congratulate a city friend 
on the certain prospect he has that his children will never 
know so lamentable a state of existence as that in which I 
find myself, when I hanker after pure breezes and dewy 
fields in one of my paroxysms, and when so far from finding 
sympathy for my afflictions, can scarcely make anybody un- 
derstand what I mean when I talk about it. My city friends, 
I may well say, have no reason to apprehend that they or 
any of their descendants will ever be exposed to such a 
malady: it is not in their blood, and the name of it is un- 
known in their vocabulary, else so rich in asthenic terms. 
Even those whose scientific repast it is to converse of all dis- 
eases, from the corn produced by fashionable shoes to the 
distorted spine, and the head deformed in infancy by lying 
on one side, while the nurse was asleep, and the mother at 
the theatre, even they know not the complaint to which I 
am liable. 

I have said a great deal about myself, and the nonde- 
script disorder with which I am affected ; and yet I have 
not told the extent to which it sometimes proceeds : for 
there might be danger that instead of being gratified with my 
loved country retreats in the spring, I should be packed off 
at once, as a confirmed Bedlamite, to a hospital. To 
strangers, however, I may confess, that one reason why I 
sometimes shun fashionable vehicles in my journeys is, that 



64 THE EAST RIVER. 

I wish to avoid fashionable society, and revive the memory 
of past days, and of men who have long since ceased to 
tread the world. I confess that this fact is sufficient to for- 
feit for me all claim to fashionable esteem. 

What ! prefer the history of our grandfathers, that plain, 
unornamented, unsophisticated set, who were too straight-for- 
ward to allow of any variety in their existence, and so unde- 
viating in habits as to admit of nothing romantic : that race, 
so profoundly ignorant of modern refinements, so stubbornly 
attached to simple habits and plain speech, and the least 
worthy of the exalted, the fashionable generation which has 
succeeded it ! 

These remarks may prepare my readers for my singular 
voyage down Long Island Sound. This I undertook in a 
sloop, which having unloaded a cargo of wood, was on her 
return to the mouth of Connecticut River. The last time I 
had come up the Sound I had travelled in a steamboat, and 
at such a rate as to regret our swift speed, while others 
around were condemning the machinery, the boiler, the hull, 
the mechanics who had done their best to produce a racer, 
and the master and men who navigated her. Feeling in the 
humour for an old-fashioned passage through the East 
River, I was pleased to find a vessel so much to my mind, 
and flattered myself that, with the wind then blowing, I 
should be able to scan the shores at my leisure. I looked 
at the round bows of the sloop, and then at the old sails and 
the light-handed crew. By beating with a long leg and a 
short one, she might tack and tack without making too much 
head-way, and perhaps reach Throg's Neck in time to wait 
for the morning tide ; that is, after a passage of about six 
hours. The steamboat which I might have chosen moved 
off and out of sight, while our hopeful crew were waiting to 
see a Frenchman's monkeys stop dancing on the dock, after 
which, — and fifteen minutes spent in rolling up sleeves and 
shoving the sloop out, — we committed ourselves to the 
deep. 

It would take me long to describe the appearance of 
Brooklyn Heights at sunset, as seen from certain points on 
the water below, or to convey to a stranger an idea of its 



HELL GATE. 65 

Still more delightful aspect to one who at sunrise walks 
along its then shady paths. Though, like the beautiful 
shades of Hoboken, they are often crowded in the after- 
noon ; like them they are unseen and unthought of in the 
morning, when only they are truly delightful. The Bay of 
New- York is often compared with that of Naples ; and from 
expressions I have seen in some of the newspapers (which 
are admitted to be the most authentic records in the world), 
it must greatly transcend it in some important particulars. 
So far as I have been able to compare the two, I am de- 
cidedly of the opinion that the bay of our commercial me- 
tropolis is incomparably before that of Naples in eels and 
drum-fish, and that this point of superiority vastly outweighs 
the mere circumstance that the latter is thirty miles wide, 
has Capri and Ischia, instead of Governor's and Gibbet 
Islands, Vesuvius in the place of Paulus Hook, and a range 
of mountains for the Jersey shore. I therefore bade adieu 
to the city with less regret when I recollected that her com- 
mercial enterprise and prosperity are so great, and her pros- 
pects so brilliant, as to induce the simple to presume that 
she is equally peerless in every thing else, and to have 
claimed for her a character which fate has decreed she can 
never possess. The truth is, like a village beauty, New- 
York is believed by her admirers to be the paragon of 
science, taste, and all things ; because she excels the known 
world in what they think of greater value. 

The passage of Hell Gate is very interesting under certain 
circumstances. When the sun is low, either at morning or 
evening, the sloping light has a pretty efl'ect among the 
smooth green lawns, the weeping willows, the tasteful man- 
sions, and the little white boat and bathing-houses on the 
western shore of the bay. As the sloop, under the cheer- 
ing influence of a brisk breeze, stretches from side to side, in 
its labours to stem the current, these objects are presented 
to the eye under a great variety of aspects ; and the turbu- 
lence of the water rushing over the rocks at the Gate, so 
like the agitated crowd of the city streets, redoubles in the 
traveller's mind the beauties of the tranquil scenes on shore. 
We look, therefore, on the retired retreat of the merchant 



66 THE EAST RIVER. 

with some participation of the pleasure enjoyed by the 
family groups, now and then seen rambling at leisure along 
the rocks, or seated upon the grass near the margin of the 
tranquil bay, which often reflects the features of that attrac- 
tive scene. 

If night begins to close around us, or if a threatening 
thunder-shower assails us in this remarkable pass, we may 
have some faint idea of those scenes of dread and danger 
which have here been so often experienced by vessels 
under the equinox, or in a violent hurricane. What a re- 
verse to the tranquil enjoyments of the summer residence 
must be presented by the signal of distress heard at night 
between claps of thunder, or to the gay party on the rocks 
by the coroner's jury sitting in the arbour, over the body of 
some shipwrecked stranger. 

Kip's Bay reminded me so strongly of the retreat of 
General Washington from Long Island, that my imagination 
depicted several of the painful scenes which followed it, as 
we sailed along near the spot where they had occurred. 
The guardian care of Providence over our feeble army was 
plainly shown at several important epochs of our Revolu- 
tionary War, but in no case, I believe, more conspicuously 
than when the British were ready to destroy or to capture it 
on Long Island. The hasty redoubts and embankments, 
now fast disappearing there under the plough and the street 
inspector's rod, attest the zeal with which the patriotic 
militia of the neighbouring states laboured for the defence 
of the capital ; but nothing can give a lively picture of the 
trying circumstances of the time but the few aged survivors 
of that period. 

" I was a mere boy," said a venerable friend, " but hearing 
that the city was in danger, sat up late at night to cast 
bullets, and in the morning hurried off without leave, to join 
the army. I spent part of the first night of my active ser- 
vice standing sentinel on one of the advanced stations near 
Flatbush, during a tremendous thunder-storm, the lightning 
of which shone on the enemy's tents and arms, then in full 
view. Of course I had time to make my own reflections on 
war, and the desperate condition of the country." With- 



AGRICULTURE. 67 

out the aid of a thick mist, which covered the movements 
of our army, our retreat would have been discovered, and 
drawn on a general attack. The outposts had been ordered 
to be kept occupied till the last, and then to be given up. 
While some of the troops were yet waiting to embark, how- 
ever, the commander of one of them, who had misunderstood 
the order, marched down to the shore. He was ordered 
instantly back ; and, strange as it may seem, reoccupied his 
post without the observation of the enemy. 

At the battle of White Plains some of our old soldiers 
were exasperated beyond measure by the conduct of General 
Lee. " I was at the battle of White Plains," said an old 
countryman, " and for want of a better, belonged to the rc- 
sarve of colours. I suppose you know what that is. Well, 
in the battle, I heard a kind of a rumpus behind me ; and 
says 1, they're a going to cut off our retreat, Pm afraid they 
are, says our sargeant. And says he to me, will you fall 
upon them in our rear ? Says I, yes ; and in front too, 
says I : for I was young in them days. Well, just then I 
looked, and see his excellency, General Washington, coming 
with his life-guard. They were on a brisk trot ; and some 
on 'em had to canter to keep up. He rode right up to 
Gen. Lee, and says he, general, why don't you fight ? Says 
he, my men won't stand it. Says his excellency (I won't 
be sartin he said you lie ; but he said), you han't tried 
'em. And there we were all in a hurry to march on ; but 
he had been bribed with British gold : there's no doubt on't. 
There wasn't a man there but what would have been glad 
to have his excellency say the word — and they would have 
riddled him finer than any sieve you ever see. Every one 
would have had a push at him : they would have riddled 
him finer than snuff." 

Croton River, near which this battle was fought, will be 
in great danger of being carried to New- York, whenever 
the corporation shall care one half as much about what their 
fellow-citizens drink, as they do about getting their votes. 

The shores of the East River show little improvement in 
agriculture ; an art in which our countrymen are far in the 
rear of some other nations. There is every reason to be- 



6S THE EAST RIVER. 

lieve,lhat judicious treatment would soon double the product 
of these tields. But what is to be expected in a land where 
learninor has long been ranged in array against that most 
important science, where the colleges are ashamed to admit 
even its name on iheir lists of studies, where its instruments 
are despised by the student, and the aspirant at book-know- 
ledcre casts from him every mark of that most honourable 
profession, as something incompatible with his lofty aims ? 
How can it be expected that our fields should be subjected 
to such svstems as the wisest and most enlightened men 
misrht devise, while the most frivolous topic has the prefer- 
ence over agriculture in the company of those whose ex- 
ample is powerful in society; Avhile our children are kept 
from a knowledge of the plainest of its principles, though 
di"illed for months and years on the Greek panicles, or see 
thousands squandered to make them French parrots and 
peacocks. 

Here pardon me for a diofression. In the Granditone 
Academy the pupils were trained to look npon the farmers' 
sons of that town and county as beings of an inferior na- 
ture, thouo-h the public prejudice against it, which was thus 
greatly fostered, was constantly counteracting the labours of 
the principal and teachers ; and I believe that its " liberal 
friends" generally would have been more unwilling to have 
a bov skilled in the care of an orchard, or the rearing of 
fowls, than caught stealing eof^s or apples. The manual la- 
bour schools deserve the thanks of the country for breaking 
through such miserable prejudices. But they need the 
active and immediate co-operation of good parents, who 
should make agricultural, or at least horticultural labour a 
regular daily employment, for the moral and intellectual, 
as well as the physical benefit of their children. What 
youth would not derive real gratification from seeing the 
shrub or the tree sprLnsing from the earth he had softened 
wdth that vigorous arm which is now more honourably em- 
ployed in swinging a fashionable walking-stick ? AVhose 
health might not be improved or guarded by the most invigo- 
ratins!" of all exercise in the open air ? AYhose intelligence 
would not be cultivated by the application of arithmetic to 



PFTER PRACTICAL'S FARM. 69 

the calculations of labour, wages, and prices, the practical 
observation of plants, animals, and minerals in the great 
public cabinet and museum of nature ? Whose habits might 
not be hedged in from evil, if the recreations of the dav led 
to more lofty associations and meditations, tempted him into 
the fields at daybreak, gave him a keener relish for plain food 
than the fashionable cook can excite with all his sauce and 
spices, and make him long for repose at the hour whiich 
Providence has assigned to it 1 

It would be well for other places besides the shores of 
this strait, called the East River, if they were the residence 
of such men as my old friend Peter Practical, of Study work, 
who, without the advantages of a fashionable friend to influ- 
ence him, did, as a man of common sense will sometimes do 
in his circumstances, train up his sons to "ride horse," 
as it was called, — not with a lackey, but with a plough be- 
hind them ; to rise, not v/ith the headache at eight or nine, 
to hot rolls and coffee, but with daybreak, to go to pasture, 
and milk the milk they were to drink for breakfast. They 
were seen accompanying their father in the spring, planting 
corn in company, and listening to his remarks and questions, 
which were full of originality, cheerfulness, and good sense. 
One had the cattle under his particular care the whole 
year round : another was supervisor of the sheep ; a third, 
who had shown a mechanical turn, was put in authority 
over the tools and implements ; and little Tom, the fourth, 
was often heard asking questions of them all, assisting them 
and his father by turns, studying the habits of the fowls, 
the sheep, and the oxen, and looking further every day into 
the various interesting things around him. Every season 
brought new employments, pleasures, and instructions to 
them all ; and the father often asked their opinions on such 
subjects as they could understand, and encouraged them by 
acting on their suggestions, about the planting of water- 
melons out of sight from the road, strengtheninor the fence 
where the cattle threatened to get in, or putting scarecrows 
iu a better position. He kept them at the district-school as 
long as it v,-as open, and made them the cleanest and most 
polite children there ; and when the school ceased, he de- 

7 



70 THE EAST RIVER. 

voted an hour at least in the day to the instruction of his 
boys, and those of his neighbourhood in his own house. 
Scarcely was this practice entirely infringed upon even in 
the midst of planting or of harvest. I never was in a house 
in which learning appeared to be more highly respected. 
He had a small library, containing solid works of his father's 
day and his own ; and few people ever treated good books 
with more regard. Of useless or injurious ones, however, 
his children were taught to speak in terms of contempt or 
abhorrence ; and as the rule of the house on this, as on 
many other subjects, was to weigh every thing in the balance 
of practical usefulness, it was easily and generally justly 
applied. When the Granditone Academy announced that 
chemistry and natural philosophy were to be taught there, 
he sent Richard to see whether he could get any thing out 
of the instructions in those branches which might be turned 
to account. It was soon apparent, however, that scarcely 
any thing of these branches was taught, so much lime was 
occupied in the classes of French (though without any hazard 
of learning to speak it); of music, without learning to sing; 
of rhetoric, without getting any thing to say ; and of compo- 
sition, without obtaining an idea worth writing. Richard, 
therefore, came home, at the end of one quarter, with little 
more to communicate than a list of definitions of learned 
terms, which his father told him were worth about as much 
as the names of a set of farming instruments to a person 
ignorant of their forms and uses. Having however been 
obliged to purchase some elementary works on these in- 
valuable sciences, he brought them home, and from these 
much important information was derived, and the names of 
books still more valuable to the farmer, who was soon able 
to make solid additions to his library, and to put in practice 
the principles they inculcated. 

If the proprietor of any of these tracts of land along the 
East River could see the farm of Peter Practical, or even 
the account of its annual products in cattle, vegetables, 
fruit, <fec., with the simple but judicious and truly scientific 
means by which extraordinary results are there produced, 
he would wish that some of his family might take up his 



LONG ISLAND SOUND. 71 

residence in the neighbourhood. To this, however, there 
might be an objection : for it is stated, on good authority, 
that in one place on Long Island, where an intelligent 
observer would exclaim, " Why is this not the garden of the 
metroplis?" there has been a secret association among 
the people, to effect the exclusion of every person from that 
part of the country in which Mr. Practical lives. But how 
can this be effected ? inquires one of my republican readers. 
In this way: if a piece of ground is to be sold at auction, 
one or more of the society attends, and if it is likely to be 
purchased by any one suspected of such an origin, he at 
once outbids him, and the loss is divided among the mem- 
bers of the association, who appear to believe that what 
remains to them of tlieir worldly estates has thus been saved 
from destruction. 

The northern shore of Long Island, unfortunately for the 
coasting trade, with few exceptions, is of a uniform appear- 
anccj and has few harbours where even a sloop may find 
refuge from a northerly storm. A steep sand-bank bounds 
the Sound on the south, almost in its whole extent, and long 
intervals are generally found between the few bays and in- 
lets that break its uniformity. It is surprising that the cases 
of wreck and loss of life have not been more frequent ; for 
the number, variety, and value of the cargoes which annu- 
ally pass through this great channel of domestic commerce 
are surprisingly great, and fast increasing. The light- 
houses, which, now shine like diamond pins on almost every 
important headland, do what human precaution can to pre- 
vent disasters : but what aid can they afford in misty or 
snowy weather? 

I was reminded of the anxious night once spent by a 
friend in a steamboat at the mouth of yonder harbour, with 
a strong gale blowing in, and the vessel, with her head to- 
wards it, revolving her ponderous wheels with all her might, 
and yet barely able to hold the station M^iich no anchor 
would have enabled her to maintain. 

Not far under our lee was the spot where an enterprising 
farmer's son, from a retired country town, in a sloop, loaded 
with wood for New-York, was driven on shore at a high 



72 LONG ISLAND SOUND. 

springtide in the night, and remained ignorant of his situa- 
tion till morning broke, and showed them they were safe. 
The waves which had broken over them had thrown the 
vessel up to the verge of a cultivated field, so that with little 
difficulty they leaped upon the stone wall which surrounded 
it; and after recovering from almost freezing by sheltering 
themselves awhile behind it, they found comfortable refresh- 
ments in a neighbouring farm-house. 

With scarcely less suffering, though with better fortune, 
another friend of mine, of three times his age, and ten times 
his skill, had conducted his little vessel through these waters 
in a December night, when a heavy fall of rain and snow, 
accompanied with freezing weather, had rendered it impos- 
sible to loosen a rope or lower a sail, and a tremendous 
gale hoarsely commanded the furling of the canvass on 
penalty of vengeance. Every brace and halliard had be- 
come a spar of ice, and the sails could not be cut out of the 
yards and buntlines, because the crew had refused to do- 
duty, and gone below. The old commander, undaunted by 
all these difficulties, might have been seen (had there been 
anybody to observe him), firmly holding the helm, some- 
times looking in vain through the darkness for any sign of 
the coast, at other times straining his eyes to distinguish 
what light-house it might be he saw or thought he saw over 
the icy taffi-ail. The terrors of that night, — though the 
tale I had listened to in the Mediterranean, — were strongly 
impressed upon my mind. 



NEW-HAVEN. 73 



CHAPTER X. 

New- Haven — Literary aspect — Refined Society — Taste in Architec- 
ture — Burying Ground — Franklin Institute — Paintings of Trum- 
bull — American Taste — Learning. 

New- Haven, so celebrated for the attractive beauty of its 
streets, the variety and romantic nature of the neighbouring 
scenery, and still more the literary and refined character of 
its society — New-Haven it was my lot to visit at a most 
interesting period, namely, during the ceremonies of Com- 
mencement Week. The annual celebration of Yale College 
had been changed this year, but did not fail to collect a 
large concourse of persons from different parts of the coun- 
try, with, as frequently happens, some foreigners of literary 
taste and intelligence. 

There is scarcely any thing better calculated to give 
pleasure to a friend of learning than to visit this delightful 
city on such an occasion. It seems as if New-Haven had 
been originally planned for the site of a university; and 
almost as if every public as well as every private house had 
been erected, every garden laid out, every court-yard and 
public square beautified, and every tree planted and trained, 
with direct reference to its appearance and convenience as 
a seat of learning. The central square, which is a noble 
quadrangle of eight or nine hundred feet, surrounded by- 
double rows of large elms, and divided by a street that is 
completely arched over with thick foliage, although it is the 
site of four of the finest public buildings, and shows the 
fronts of handsome mansions on three of its sides, affords 
the university its place of honour, for the six college build- 
ings are ranged in a long line on the western side, where 
the ground is highest, and the elevation superior to the 
chief part of the city. New-Haven is a place of consider- 
able business, with the inhabitants of surrounding towns ; 
but the stores are so remote from this delightful centre, or 

7* 



74 NEW-HAVEN. 

at least so effectually concealed from view, where this fine 
display of buildings is visible, that the idea as well as the 
interruption of business is entirely excluded. It is impos- 
sible for a stranger to catch a glimpse of the Green, as it 
is familiarly called, especially from some of the most favour- 
able points of view (as, for example, the public or the pri- 
vate doors of the Tontine Coffee House), without experi- 
encing sensations of a peculiar and most agreeable nature. 
He looks from under the shade of a venerable elm grove 
upon a smooth level of green grass, about four hundred feet 
wide, and eight hundred in length, from right to left. The 
eye then first meets an obstacle, and falls upon a long line 
of drooping trees of the same description, standing like a 
wall of verdure before him, disclosiug only the general pro- 
portions of three fine churches, in different tastes, but at 
uniform distances, with towers rising to a great height into 
the air, and givmg an interrupted view of the university. 
As for tranquillity, it is unbroken, unless, perhaps, by the 
traffickers in water-melons offering their cooling wares to 
abate the thirst of a literary race ; or by the voices of the 
young treading the paths of science, which stretch across 
the smooth turf up the hill to the colleges, " as plain as road 
to parish church," and far more easy than the steep of 
science, as it was represented to them at first starting, in the 
frontispiece of Dr. Webster's Spelling Book. 

The periodical ringing of the bells, with the signs of 
gathering and dispersing classes, the stillness which reigns 
through this part of the city during the college exercises, 
and the student-like aspects of ihose who, at other hours, 
traverse the Green, have a tendency to direct the thoughts 
of the spectator to subjects above the common affairs of 
life, and by elevating the mind and tranquillizing the feel- 
ings, win from the stranger who visits the place a 
tribute of praise, the source of which may perhaps be 
more creditable to himself than he imagines. Many trav- 
ellers have loved to recur to the beauties of New-Haven, 
and to praise its neat mansions, extensive and blooming 
gardens, level lawns and luxuriant foliage, who knew not 
that the chief source of their enjoyment, during their stay, 



REFINEMENT. 75 

had been derived from another and a higher cause. I liave 
often listened with pleasure to the encomiums thus annually 
poured, like a spontaneous song, from the hearts of many 
refined strangers on the spot, because, while it recalls to my 
own mind agreeable impressions, it informs me that my 
companions hold learning in becoming regard, and rejoice 
to see it duly honoured. 

But in praising the line part of New-Haven, I would not 
slight the remainder of the city. Many neat and not a few 
elegant houses are seen in other streets, especially in this 
vicinity, shaded by the rows of elms which extend far in 
every direction along those which here cross at right 
angles. Withdrawing northwardly along two of these, 
to the distance of about a quarter of a mile, you enter the 
beautiful " Avenue," where are collected the houses of 
several of the oldest and most eminent of the professors of 
Yale College, with the chaste and elegant mansion of the 
Poet Hillhouse at the opposite extremity, rising among the 
trees of a self-planted wood, on a gentle eminence. Nothing 
could be more pleasing or appropriate than the aspect of 
this retired spot, when I proceeded in the twilight to visit 
one of the professors ; and nothing more accordant with the 
scene and the vicinity than the intelligent conversation, 
mingled with the refined hospitality and friendship shown 
by such of the neighbours as had assembled, to several lite- 
rary strangers who presented themselves during the evenino-. 

One cannot but regret, after seeing such a society, that 
its influence should not be more extensively exerted to raise 
the standard of conversation and manners in other places. 
No one can doubt that there is a large depository of power 
here which might, by some means, be made to operate upon 
our country extensively. Much might be done by a periodi- 
cal publication, devoted not so much to the cultivation of 
the higher branches of science and literature, with which 
so few have any concern, but to the refinement of social 
intercourse, the inchement of parents to give a proper do- 
mestic education to their children, the inculcation of sound 
principles on this and many other subjects essential to pri- 
vate and public prosperity and happiness. The cause of 



76 NEW-HAVEN. 

its want is probably to be attributed to the fact, that the 
members of this society underrate their own powers and 
opportunities for doing good in such a manner. Those con- 
nected with the university are generally much occupied 
with business ; and there is so much refinement around them 
that they do not, perhaps, feel how much it is needed else- 
where. Besides, they would be ready to say thai Yale 
College, with the ten large and respectable boarding-schools 
in the city, are constantly labouring to produce such an 
effect. But how slight yet how effectual a labour it would 
be to publish a monthly magazine here, whose influence 
should be beneficially felt throughout the Union, and which, 
while it might chastise the follies and frailties of certain in- 
fluential periodicals now existing, might condescend to in- 
struct a million of our countrymen in the way to social 
refinement, the bosom friend of moral and religious improve- 
ment. 

A society has been formed in New-Haven within a few 
months, for the promotion of taste in civic architecture, the 
laying out of grounds, <fec. A stranger would at first be 
disposed to wonder less that such a subject should have at- 
tracted attention here, than that there should have been sup- 
posed to be room for improvement. And yet it was, in fact, 
perfectly natural that such a plan should have been devised 
in New-Haven ; because improvements are much more 
likely to progress than to begin. And how important are 
the objects embraced by this society ! Our best plans of 
architecture in the United Slates are notoriously defective. 
We have lived till this time without ascertaining any prin- 
ciples to be observed in building our houses, so as to consult 
the great points that ought to be regarded. How often do 
we begin to build without a thought even of old Fuller's 
quaint remark, that light and water, creation's eldest 
daughters, should first be sought in choosing a position ; and 
after this, how innumerable are the violations of common sense, 
taste, and experience committed by every person who con- 
structs a residence for his family! In fantastical ornaments 
and preposterous novelties, as well as in fashions condemned 
by every thing but habit, we often see that obedience to ex- 



DOMESTIC ARRANGEMENTS. 77 

ample which ought to be yielded only to pure taste and 
sound judgment. The purse-proud descendant of a venera- 
ble family, to obliterate every trace of an education which 
he chooses to despise, and with the feelings almost of a 
parricide, levels tlie noble elms that defended woithier 
generations from the storms ; before he lays the founda- 
tion of some glaring structure, which he thinks will capti- 
vate every eye. Some of our countrymen believe that there 
is no architectural taste independent of red, green, or blue 
paint; while others, especially in the capitals, sleep content 
(half a day's journey in the air,) if they succeed in building 
more spacious parlours than their neighbours, and in re- 
moving one more convenience to make room for a few more 
guests at an occasional winter's jam. 

Happy would it be, if the society above referred to could 
teach us how to consult our own comfort, and the benefit 
of our children, in the plan of a house ; if it could convince 
some parents that our dwellings should sometimes be the 
scenes of unostentatious, sincere, and Christian hospitality; 
but chiefly planned and furnished with a serious regard to 
its great object, — the training of their children. There can 
be no fireside in a house where every thing has been sacri- 
ficed, in the plan and the furniture, to the hollow and ruinous 
ceremonies of fashionable life. The fireside is of but little im- 
portance, I know, in the view of persons who profess to live 
only for the present time ; but this is a subject which might 
occupy the attention at least of some reflecting persons, if it 
were properly brought up to their notice. How impossible 
it is to reconcile the demands of fashion and of duty on the 
family of one of our wealthy citizens ! How much more 
wise it would be to contract the walls and depress the 
ceilings of our houses to a reasonable size, and tear off from 
the furniture of our children's apartments some portion of 
the silks and gildings with which we early implant false 
ideas of the world and their own importance, and bring 
back every thing at once to the intellectual and moral scale 
on which some of our ancestors ordered their household ! 
What ages, what centuries of time would be rescued from 
the cares of spacious and gaudy apartments, the conversa- 



78 NEW-HAVEN. 

tions of heartless and formal visiters ; what a round of new 
and nobler topics and daily pleasures might be substituted; 
what a revolution might be effected in the occupations and 
feelings of families ; how many a child might be saved a 
banishment, who is now annually expelled from the parental 
roof, to seek afar a guardian and instructer, denied by fashion 
at home ; how many a fireside might be daily and nightly 
gladdened with circles of well-taught and affectionate 
brothers and sisters, instead of being devoted to frivolous 
morning calls, and trampled by nightly dancers ! 

Incontestibly many comforts and advantages of different 
kinds might accrue from the improvement of architectural 
taste and science, in our country at large. A sightly man- 
sion may be erected at less expense than is often bestowed 
on a pile of deformity; and not only convenience but health 
may be secured by a judicious plan in building. The plant- 
ing of trees on private grounds often contributes to the grati- 
fication of neighbours and the beauty of a town ; and the 
laying out and decorating of public squares, although so 
generally neglected among us, might easily be rendered 
subservient to the improvement of public taste, intelligence, 
and morality. Whoever has been in Switzerland or other 
foreign countries, where rural seats are provided at the way- 
side, near fountains, on hill tops, or under the most venera- 
ble shades, for the convenience of foot-travellers, must recall 
with pleasure the agreeable impressions they give of the re- 
finement of the inhabitants. What a total absence of all 
such feelings, on the contrary, is caused, as we pass 
along our own roads, to see no trace of any thing done for 
the benefit of a stranger ! The road side is often studiously 
deprived of foliage ; and it is rare that so much as a rock 
can be found proper to afford a convenient seat. On enter- 
ing our villages also, is there any little grove, or even a 
single tree provided with benches, from which one may 
survey the objects around him ? A trough may have been 
placed for the benefit of the cattle, to receive the water of 
a rill ; but why is man considered as so far beneath all no- 
tice ? The inn and the drinking shop indeed are open ; but 
would not their evil influence be diminished, if every village 



BURYING-GROUND. 79 

were provided with a little shady green, furnished at least 
with a few seats in the shade, where the youth and age of 
the place might meet at sunset in the summer? With how 
little expense might the spot he beautified, and, if necessary, 
protected by a keeper ! Winding paths are easily made ; 
trees are easily planted, and will grow if let alone; flowers 
afford a cheap and delightful ornament ; and how easily 
might tasteful arbours or rotundas be supplied with a vase, 
a bust, or even a statue, such as native artists can easily 
produce ! 

But this fertile subject has led me far beyond my in- 
tended limits. Let us turn to the decorated ground which 
shows, alas ! a profusion of marble monuments, a little west- 
ward of the beautiful Avenue of which I have spoken. In 
my view, the burying-ground of New-Haven has been too 
much praised, as it can lay no claims to an equality, as a 
mere object of taste, with that great and beautiful depository 
of the dead of Paris with which it has most frequently been 
compared. The cemetery of P^re la Chaise occupies a 
great extent of irregular ground, instead of being a mere 
plain of limited size ; and in place of small monuments, 
mingled with many upright slabs, planted in lines par- 
allel with the straight poplars, which imperfectly shade 
them, presents a long succession of more cosily and tower- 
ing obelisks, pyramids, and fabrics of difl^erent styles, half 
surrounded by clusters of various trees and shrubs, occupy- 
ing points favourable to eflect. The paths wind over and 
around many a little eminence, sometimes confining the 
view of the solitary visiter to objects close beside him, com- 
pelling him to think of some individual among the multitudes 
of dead, and perhaps to read his epitaph ; sometimes aflbrd- 
ing a distant view of the metropolis, and filling the mind 
with a solemn and instructive lesson concerning the living. 
This is a brief picture of Pere la Chaise, as the cemetery 
is familiarly denominated : that is, of the better portion of 
it ; and how'can a comparison be instituted between its rural 
scenery and luxurious monuments and any thing we find 
here ? Perhaps all the marble in the whole burying-ground 
of New-Haven would hardly be sufficient to construct some 



80 NEW-HAVEN. 

single monuments erected to Parisians. But, for all the 
purposes for which a place of interment should be planned 
and visited, that of New-Haven appeared to me as far supe- 
rior to that of Paris as I can possibly describe. One of the 
most splendid structures in the latter is that of Abelard and 
Heloise ! What man of intellect, not to say of religion, or 
even of morality, does not feel insulted by such a fact? I 
will not speak of that large portion of the ground which is 
dug over once in a few years. 

The soul which " startles at eternity," goes to the grave- 
yard to learn something of the import of so dread a word. 
Trifles, such as wealth, taste, learning (so called), honour 
that cometh not from God, glory that survives not death, 
man knows too well to be willing seriously to investigate 
their nature. If he endures them at all, he seeks ever to 
mingle with the crowd which proclaims them as woith more 
than they are. Worldly men, therefore, you find not going 
to the grave, to weep, or even to meditate there. The place 
then must have a solemn sermon prepared to preach to 
every visiter, on the end of all things, — of all things but one. 
It must have thoughts ready to suggest on the imperishable 
nature of the soul, the superior importance of every thing 
that may lead it to future happiness, and the danger of for- 
getting its inestimable worth among the glare of the baubles 
around us. Whatever there be, therefore, in a cemetery, 
which does not tend to depreciate this world in our esteem, 
and to exalt the future, is out of place ; and whatever the 
object be, it proclaims that the author of it was entirely 
ignorant of the task he had undertaken, and had no mind 
capable of comprehending the subject. 

While, therefore, I state a plain truth, that there are 
finer serpentine walks, more costly and splendid monuments 
in Pfere la Chaise, I insist that more judgment, far higher 
taste has been shown in the New-Haven burying-ground. 
In my view also the same might be said of every village 
burying-ground in our country, were it not for the too 
limited size generally allowed them, and the too common 
neglect with which they are treated. I speak from a deep 
sentiment of my heart when I say, that a secure enclosure, 



COLONEL Trumbull's paintings. 81 

a few gravelled walks, shaded by willows, enriched with 
flowering shrubs, and decently secluded from noise and 
dust, would furnish every village with a depository for the 
dead more appropriate, more truly beautiful, and for the 
living more instructive, than the boasted cemetery of the 
French metropolis. 

It is difficult for me to express all the gratification the 
traveller experiences on entering the Franklin Institute, 
which is connected with one of the principal inns in New- 
Haven. Whoever heard, in any other city or country, of 
such a union ? In a spacious wing of the hotel, over the 
dining-room, the lodger may cross a passage and enter a 
fine lecture-room, furnished with seats for two or three hun- 
dred people, with a desk for a lecturer, having a neat labora- 
tory and apparatus in view, a niche for receivers, with a flue 
to take ofl" offensive gases, a study adjoining, and a private 
passage to a fine mineralogical cabinet, occupying the third 
story, to which you are next introduced. This institution is 
due entirely to the intelligence and liberality of Mr. Abel 
Brewster, a wealthy mechanic of this city, who planned and 
founded it at his own expense, for the benefit of the citizens. 
A course of scientific lectures is delivered every winter, 
principally by the professors of Yale College, to which 
tickets are obtained for two dollars. The professors and 
other literary gentlemen of the place afford it their counte- 
nance and labours ; and the influence upon the inhabitants 
has been very beneficial, especially those who have not 
many other sources of instruction. Such an example, from 
an intelligent and highly philanthropic individual, should 
provoke to imitation some of those in other places who pos- 
sess the power of promoting the great interests of the public 
in a similar manner. 

New-Haven has been greatly enriched within a few 
months by the acquisition of some of the invaluable paint- 
ings of Colonel John Trumbull, which are now deposited in 
a building erected by subscription in the rear of the College 
Lyceum. This edifice is itself worthy of particular atten- 
tion, on account of its neat and correct architecture, and its 
appropriate plan for the objects designed. It is notorious 

8 



82 NEW-HAVEN. 

that in all the picture galleries of Europe there is not one 
in which the proper arrangements have been made for the 
favourable disposition of paintings and admission of light. 
Numerous windows, generally large, and opening nearly 
from the ceiling to the floor, give a multitude of cross lights ; 
or else a portion of the apartment is thrown into deep 
obscurity. You may walk through the whole gallery of the 
Louvre, about one-third of a mile in length, and not see a 
painting in the best light; while in Italy the pictures in 
private collections are often hung upon hinges, and those of 
the Vatican, among others, suffer from the evils above men- 
tioned. Some of the exhibition-rooms in Philadelphia, New- 
York, and perhaps some of our other cities, are now more 
judiciously lighted from above. The rotunda of the capitol 
is a noble specimen of the same kind, reminding one of the 
Pantheon of Rome ; and although constructed primarily for 
a different purpose, affords one of the finest galleries for 
paintings in the world. After visiting the well-known 
mineralogical cabinet of Yale College, I entered the gallery 
where, under the advantage of a light admitted from above, 
are seen the pictures of Colonel Trumbull ; and it is doubly 
gratifying to find so many of them deposited in a permanent 
situation, in his native state, which he has done so much to 
honour, and to know that this arrangement has been made 
by the liberality of some of his fellow-citizens. 

Of the full value of the national paintings of this artist, 
it will be impossible to judge until time shall have enabled 
the public more justly to appreciate it. But how happy it is 
that an officer of Washington's family should have been able 
as well as disposed to record the principal events of our re- 
volution in this most interesting and instructive manner, and 
to preserve the portraits of the most distinguished actors. 
While on the spot, I could not but wish that a suggestion I 
heard made some months since might ere long be carried 
into effect, viz. that lectures should be delivered, to the stu- 
dents and others, on these pictures, embracing those instruct- 
ive historical and biographical details in which our revolu- 
tionary period so greatly abounded, and in which our youth 
ought to be frequently and familiarly schooled. 



TRUE AMERICAN TASTE. 83 

I was exceedingly mortified, however, to find in the State 
House, a copy of Trumbull's Declaration of Independence, 
furtively made by a raw young artist, which has been pur- 
chased by the Legislature, and hung up in the hall. This 
appeared to me as discreditable a reflection upon the want 
of taste and the abundance of parsimony as that body could 
have cast upon itself. 

The State House is a beautiful edifice, built on the model 
of a fine Grecian temple, in pure taste, and is handsomely 
stuccoed in imitation of granite. These perishable materials 
appear ill when betrayed under the thin disguise of mock 
stone. The Gothic Church near by already shows the 
white pine under the glazing of brown paint and sand. 
Apropos, speaking of the Gothic style, — Why should it be 
introduced into America ? There is not a feature in society 
here which bears the slightest afTmity with it ; and so 
utterly opposed is it to the principles of pure and refined 
taste, that nothing makes it at all tolerable in Europe, except 
its known connexion with the days of semi-barbarism in 
which it flourished. 

But it is more agreeable to approve than to condemn. 
Let us take this favourable opportunity to reflect a moment 
on a national taste in the fine arts, appropriate to our coun- 
try. In architecture it is much easier to say what does not 
than what does suit our circumstances. I will leave that to 
others for the present, hoping they may apply to it those 
principles of common sense which I wish to suggest in 
respect to a sister art. In painting, we ought to fix our 
principles distinctly. We ought not in this or any thing 
else, servilely to follow the example of any, even the 
masters of the art. We are to imitate the style of the best 
ancient orators, poets, and historians, when we speak and 
write ; but how 1 By using exactly their words ? No 5 
but by saying what they would have said if the)^ had been 
like us, and in our places. So, when we come to painting 
or to sculpture, we should not merely copy Jupiters, or 
Apollos, or Laocoons. Apelles and Praxiteles would not 
have produced such personages if they had flourished in our 
days in the Western Continent. Long were the arts smoth^ 



84 NEW-HAVEN. 

ered in Europe under the weight of ancient example ; and 
when West roused up from the revery enough to throw off 
the drapery of antiquity, tliey breathed more freely. But 
West went not into the proper American domain. He was 
indeed unfavourably situated to do so, for he was in Europe. 
We find him therefore, when out of scripture and poetical 
subjects, commemorating the death of Wolfe at Quebec, and 
making his hero with his last breath applaud a victory in 
which no principle was involved, and from which flowed no 
result of interest to mankind. The tale to be told on his 
canvass was the old bald tale of military adventure : directed 
by a ministry three thousand miles distant, with money 
which they seem to have expended chiefly for their own 
credit. Military glory is the highest motive you can attri- 
bute to any of the personages of whom the groups must be 
formed ; and the whole work is but the old song of false 
praise to war and bloody victory. 

But how diflerent from all this are the paintings of 
Trumbull ! How much more appropriate to the principles 
we profess ! Each of the personages presents an instruct- 
ive lesson in his history. Here is no son, whose name 
was inscribed on the army list merely to secure him a pro- 
fession. The simple insignia of these soldiers were not 
purchased with money, and no accident or fatality brought 
them together. The war in which they engaged had not 
been waged for the exaltation of an ambitious general, 
or to slake the thirst of any tyrant for blood ; and the 
actors were not the blind servants of one whose com- 
mands might not be questioned. Each man had inde- 
pendently acted in obedience to his own judgment, and in 
accordance with his own feelings. His education had been 
such as to strengthen his mind, and to cultivate pure mo- 
tives ; and the great proof of the patriotism of our army was 
shown by their quietly disbanding and returning to their 
homes when the war had been terminated. Other troops, 
after obtaining victory, would have considered their own 
great object yet unaccomplished, while their pay was with- 
held ; and would have been ready to ravage their country 
to reward or revenge themselves. But the men whom our 



CAUSES OF LANGUISHING COLLEGES. 85 

great artist has preserved on his canvass, maintained the 
attachment of children to their country, and vohmtarily re- 
signed that power by which alone they might have com- 
pelled the satisfaction of their claims, although they were 
just and undisputed. Posterity will have the discrimination 
which we want, and appreciate such works according to 
their merits. 

It has been lamented that some of our states, and espe- 
cially such as have contained the best of our colleges, should 
be so parsimonious in rendering them pecuniary aid. No 
doubt a few thousands of dollars, if conferred upon Yale 
College some years ago, would have proved of extreme 
value to the interests of learning in Connecticut and the 
country. She has had to struggle with poverty, or her use- 
fulness, great as it has been, might have been doubled. 
The legislature of the state has appeared unaccountably in- 
different to learning, while in possession of means for its 
cultivation, I suppose, superior to those of any other in the 
Union. This I attribute to the habit of receiving early in- 
struction in the district schools at the expense of a perma- 
nent fund ; to the division which is made between those fully 
and those partially educated ; and, perhaps, above all, to ihe 
inadequacy of common education. 

The right of every parent to send his child to a district 
school is considered as entire as the claim to air and water ; 
and indeed many resist taking more instruction than they 
please, as they would object to excessive eating or breath- 
ing. The people are not called upon to provide for the sup- 
port of their schools, nor obliged at any time to go without 
them ; and therefore do not often contemplate, if they ever 
do, the real value of regular education. Besides, the most 
important part of the instruction is often communicated at 
home, and this may be another reason why there is no 
general disposition among the people to be liberal to literary 
institutions. Practical knowledge is too generally under- 
rated by men of regular education, and this fosters jealousy 
against them, and provokes contempt for theoretical learn- 
ing. Study and work are so entirely separated, in short, as 
to be kept ignorant of each other ; and there has been 

8* 



86 SAYBROOK POINT. 

popular ignorance and jealousy enough to let this chief 
literary institution of the state languish for many years. 
Yale College has recently received above one hundred thou- 
sand dollars in subscriptions from its alumni and friends in 
different parts of the country, although about an equal sum 
has been contributed at the same time for several other insti- 
tutions in New-England. While these instances of enlight- 
ened liberality authorize us to indulge hopes that learning 
will be supported in the Union by the public ; the past 
Warns us of the danger which it incurs among a people 
educated on a defective plan, and claims the immediate im- 
provement of common schools : even those of Connecticut, 
which have been greatly overrated. 

Saybrook, on the western side of Connecticut River, at 
its mouth, was the first place occupied by the English in 
New-England, after leaving the coast of Massachusetts 
Bay. After repeated solicitations from the Indians, who 
originally occupied the banks of this delightful stream, and 
had been driven from the western shore by the Mohawks, 
the governor of Plymouth Colony sent Lieutenant Gardner 
with a few soldiers to occupy this post, for fear lest the 
Dutch should anticipate him. He arrived only a few hours 
before a •Dutch vessel appeared from New- York, which 
sailed up and founded a settlement at Hartford, under the 
patronage of the Mohawks. 

The steamboats stop at Saybrook Point, which is about 
a mile from the village. Here are a few houses, several of 
which receive boarders during the summer season. I may 
give the results of a morning's observations, during a walk 
I took between sunrise and breakfast time. Saybrook Point 
is nearly in the form of a circle, being a peninsula, con- 
nected with the mainland by a very narrow neck, over 
which the tide sometimes flows, and having a broad and 
handsome bay of shallow water on each side. The soil is 
sandy and poor, and the elevation of the highest part, which 
is near the middle, is not above tv/enty feet. The remains 
of the fort are on a small spot of ground at the extremity of 
the peninsula ; but the site of the first fort is believed to 
have been worn away by the encroachments of the waves. 



AN OLD matron's OPINIONS. 77 

I found an old man hoeing corn on the bank which slopes 
eastward a little in its rear. " I suspect," said he, " that 
this is the oldest field between Plymouth Colony and the 
Western Ocean ; for from its situation this would naturally 
have been the first spot the settlers would have tilled, as the 
Indians kept them at first closely confined." This appeared 
to me very probable ; and when I reflected what rich and 
abundant harvests are now growing almost to the Rocky 
Mountains, it gave me a striking idea of the progress of the 
country in two hundred years. On the brow of the bleak 
bank stands an ancient monument, of coarse free-stone, 
erected to Lady Arabella Fenwick, which has now no 
inscription, and is entirely neglected, being barely kept 
standing to comply with the requisitions of the deed by 
which a large tract of land on the opposite shore is held. 
The simplicity and loneliness of this relick are very touch- 
ing to the feelings, when the pure and exalted character of 
the deceased is called to mind. 

The land on the Pohit is laid out in large fields and 
squares, as it was originally intended for a commercial city ; 
and Oliver Cromwell, with other men then more distinguished 
than himself, was once, it is said, actually embarked in the 
Thames to occupy the ground. The foundation of the 
building which was once Yale College, the cellar of the 
Court House, and the ancient grave-stones in the burying- 
yard, offer interesting objects to the antiquary. Two or 
three old houses are among the few specimens of early 
New-England architecture, now observed by the traveller 
in this state. Captain Doty's house and his portrait, as 
well as his grave and those of his contemporaries and 
children, 1 visited. 

I had some conversation with an old matron, whose un- 
affected dignity, obliging manners, intelligent remarks, and 
refined language reminded me of many of those I had viewed 
with such respect and attachment in my childhood. She 
approved of my early rising and rational curiosity, and be- 
lieved it would be better if we were more acquainted with 
the character of our ancestors and those difficult times which 
were formerly experienced here. There hftd been a mush- 



88 A CONNECTICUT VILLAGE. 

room race, which had risen after the Revolutionary AVar, 
very unlike their fathers, caring nothing for them, and want- 
ing only to amass money; but she believed times were 
better now, and it had become quite tlie fashion to search 
for antiquities. It seemed to her like the Book of the Law, 
which was lost a long time, but was found in the temple in 
the time of Josiah. 



CHAPTER XI. 

A Connecticut Clergyman's Family — Wood-hauling — Middletown. 

In my journey up the river I deviated from my course to 
visit one of the favourite scenes of my childhood. It was 
one of the river towns, so like the others in its general traits, 
that to describe it is in some sense to describe all which 
retain their ancient agricultural character. I spent parts of 
two years there while a boy, in the family of the old clergy- 
man of the place ; and thus became instructed in the state 
of society, as an apprentice learns his master's trade, viz. 
by assisting to carry it on. The good old man, who had 
lived many years on a glebe of four acres and four hundred 
dollars a year, was considered by his neighbours entitled by 
his character to the liberal pay of one dollar a week for 
boarding, lodging, and instructing a boy like me ; and in the 
plain hospitality which I received at their firesides, I read at 
once their love for him, and their respect for the learning 
which I was supposed to be seeking. Some of these men, 
while they worked the farms of their ancestors, occupied 
dwellings which had sheltered several generations ; or at 
least reposed under aged elms where their grandfathers had 
pursued their boyish sports. I soon began to share the 
feelings of the family, where every wandering stranger was 
sure of finding friends ; and through the frequent calls of 
connexions and brother-clergymen, as well as by visits in 



AN OLD clergyman's FAMILY. 89 

the neighbourhood and the parish, I became acquainted with 
men, congregations, and things far and near. 

If it be useful to a mind to contemplate the operations of 
an important and valuable machine, must it not be an im- 
proving task to observe the operations of such a society? I 
cannot tell exactly how much I was the better for the know- 
ledge I acquired there of the piety of iEneas, or the purity 
of the heathen gods ; but I am sure that the excellent and 
exalted characters I there saw displayed, with the daily 
exhibition of doing good, have had a perceptible influence 
on my life, and ought to have had much more. The old 
gentleman, besides his pastoral duties, was chief counsellor 
to old and young in cases of doubt and difficulty, patron- 
general of learning, and one with whom those minds which 
wandered farthest beyond the village sphere were fond of 
comparing themselves. By his kitchen fire, where so many 
of the families of New-Eng-land draw their circles in the 
winter evenings, I have heard principles avowed, and 
opinions familiarly expressed, concerning which I have 
since seen the nations of Europe at war. The very bare- 
footed boy who spent a week in the house, while his poor 
wayworn mother was accommodated in the ' linter room' for 
the love of him whose heart-broken disciple she was, poor 
little George went off engrafted with views of the rights and 
duties of man, which certain European sovereigns have re- 
fused to learn from exile or the sword. He encouraged 
me at my evening lesson by reminding me that there was 
no impediment between any boy and the highest station of 
usefulness in the country; and when we closed with an hour 
spent in shelling corn, he would sometimes talk of one of 
my grandfathers who had loved his books in his youth, or 
tell tales of his missionary adventures among the Delaware 
Indians. 

The means of obtaining an education for the desk in past 
days were confined, as is well known, to the private in- 
structions of clergymen, and none of those seminaries had 
yet an existence which have since done so much for the 
church, and are doing much more. Our New-England 
clergymen carefully transmitted their learning from genera- 



90 A CONNECTICUT VILLAGE. 

tion to generation, under the disadvantages to which they 
were subjected, by their private instructions to young men 
preparing for their profession ; and although their time was 
much engrossed with parochial labours, the students were 
not as much as now withdrawn from the world, but more 
trained to the practice of a science in which theoretical 
learning alone is of little direct avail in society. For my 
own part, I felt that the Christian • religion was of real 
value, when I, though a child, accompanied the venerable 
pastor in some of his visits to the people of his charge. 
Two of these occasions have often since presented them- 
selves to my memory in a powerful contrast. One of these 
was the funeral of a young man, who had suddenly died on 
the eve of marriage. The mother stood among the mourn- 
ful throng, with a heavenly calmness upon her face, and 
seemed to drink in the consolations of the Scriptures offered 
by my aged companion, like one thirsty for the water of 
life. In the other case, I found a half-heathen family at 
their miserable meal, on the outskirts of the parish, with 
poverty and ignorance written on every countenance, no 
Bible in the house, and apparently unacquainted with the 
bearing of its doctrines on that spirit which had recently in- 
habited the lifeless body now ready for the grave in one 
corner of the room. Never before nor since have I witnessed 
equal degradation in a family in that part of our country; 
and the old pastor seemed as much astonished as myself, 
for they had kept aloof from all the blessings of civilization 
around them, and been as much unknown as unknowing. 
From what I heard of the conversation which took place, I 
received the impression that they had come some months 
before from another state, where few then enjoyed the bene- 
fits of intellectual or religious instruction ; and although I 
spoke not a word on the subject, and probably my reflec- 
tions were not conjectured even by my companion, with all 
his fondness for youth, and his penetration, 1 believe I ieflt 
the house a decided, though a young champion for knowledge 
and refinement. 

Wood-hauling is a v/ord which requires explanation to 
such as have not been intimately acquainted with the country 



A WOOD-HAULING. 01 

villages in New-England. It is the name of an annual 
holyda3% when the parishioners make their contributions of 
wood to their pastor, and partake of refreshment or a regu- 
lar dinner at his house. 

In the visits I paid with my venerable instructer to many 
a habitation far and near, to give invitations for this muster 
of the parish, I had glimpses of life among the farmers, and 
even the lawyers' and physicians' households, and thought 
I grew rich in friends faster than ever before. M. Levas- 
seur, while in General Lafayette's train, had not more reason 
to be pleased with the Americans, than I had to love the 
people of the parish during this tour of visitation. All the 
overflowings of their affection towards the good old man 
they bestowed upon me ; and many a respectful courtesy I 
saw made by dignified frames which I had seen before only 
moving to the house of God, and which I had supposed to be 
thus perpendicular the year round. The farmers' wives 
patted my head, and stooping down, smiled in my face. 
The girls brought me nut-cakes, and the boys chestnuts and 
apples ; while the old dog or cat was driven out of the 
warm chimney-corner, and I was placed on a block to 
warm my little toes and fingers. I had not supposed there 
were as many dried pumpkins and sausages in the world 
as I saw hanging from the kitchen-walls ; and as for cows 
and beehives, milk and honey, I thought of the land of Ca- 
naan. To hear such cheerful, laborious, intelligent people 
talk about the joys of religion and the prospects of heaven, 
made me love to sit on their settle-benches and walk on 
their sanded floors. Families in affliction, and those in 
poverty were visited, encouraged, or prayed with, and left 
without a hint at any inappropriate subject ; but where good 
manners and good memory were not found together, an 
invitation was elsewhere given by the pastor to the wood- 
hauling next Thursday, and every face brightened at the 
word. 

Thursday came at the parsonage, and I helped to twist 
tow strings to roast the beef and spareribs, while all the 
tables were set in rows ; loaves of bread were cut so as to 
appear yet whole ; the great gate, like those fickle peo- 



92 A CONNECTICUT VILLAGE. 

pie whose similitude it is, after having been for a time 
close shut, was swung wide open ; and the farmers and 
farmers' boys hurried off to the woods with their horse 
sleds. By-and-by they began to come in, rivalling each 
other in the size of their loads, the straightness and quality 
of their wood, their expedition in cutting it, their dexterity in 
driving up and unloading it. Sleighs came in with bags of 
wheat and rye or Indian meal, which the miller had to 
grind and toll for us through the winter ; and butter, eggs, 
cheese, bacon, heads of fine flax and hanks of yarn were 
handed in and deposited in cellars and cupboards, with ad- 
miration at the generosity of friends far and near. Twenty 
men, old and respectable enough for deacons, were soon 
assembled ; while there were others in tlie prime of life, 
enough to have made one of Colonel Warner's companies 
at the battle of Bennington. Ah ! how many of those iron- 
bound frames have ere this been shattered by death, as the 
finest trees of the forest were that day levelled and riven by 
their hands ! 

Long Tom Hewitt came headlong down Hewitt's Hill, 
with his horses' tails sweeping the snow, and pulling the 
handsomest load of white ash that was hauled that winter. 
There he had lived, driving such horses, and burning such 
wood, like his fathers before him, with little notice from the 
world : one of the shoots from a stump of an old family which 
dated far back towards the first settlement of the township. 
He looked as wild as any of the Indians his ancestors were 
reported to have out-ambushed and outrun ; but there was 
nothing else savage or active about him. The uplands pro- 
duced more grass than the cattle or sheep could eat, and 
they multiplied and fattened even faster than the Hewitts 
who fed and slaughtered them ; and this was the simple 
secret of their being all men " to do in the world." He had 
more respectability than his apathy deserved, and more in- 
fluence than he ever exercised. His children were born to 
ignorance and plenty of bread and milk. They went to 
pasture in the summer, and ate hasty-pudding and great 
sweet apples all winter. They never ran away and never 
died. Their feet were too heavy for the former, and the 



A WESTERN SETTLER. 95 

air was too pure for the latter. Because Hewitt's ridge was 
the highest ground in that region, they seemed to think there 
was nothing above them worth grasping after. They bore 
the reproach of ignorance from generation to generation, 
because, as the expression was, their family was of poor 
blood enough : want of education being hereditary among 
them, which is next to downright vice in public estimation. 
I am not using language here in its European sense; for 
reading, writing, and ciphering are not here called educa- 
tion. The Hewitts went to the district school every winter, 
and the teachers were boarded and respectfully treated in 
their regular turns at their houses ; but none of them got 
that acquaintance with the world, or what it contains, which 
so often eailivened their neighbours' conversation, had not a 
map or a library to show, nor any eminent namesake to 
boast of, and, to crown all, were not ashamed of their degra- 
dation. When therefore Tom had unloaded his wood, his 
next and only thought was that it must be near dinner- 
time. 

Charley Crawley was announced as being on his way up 
the plain. Some pretended to recognise him by his sorrow- 
ful long under-jaw ; but they in fact distinguished the un- 
painted dash-board of his pung, which had been broken the 
week before by his wild son Josh in a high gale, and after- 
ward mended by him in a low one. The old horse, which 
was as calm as a wooden clock, with the old man to balance 
his notions, had been a wild fury on the night of the sleigh-* 
ride, Vv^hen she set off in the moonlight like a watch with a 
broken hair-spring, at a rate never designed for him, and 
soon ran out his career. What Charley had in his pung he 
was slow in exhibiting, so that the spectators had begun to 
tire at their posts, when old Captain John, a retired sailor, 
came up, heralded by his own stentorian voice. His knotty 
whip made many short fashionable calls on his blind horse, 
which was proof against such attacks, as much as the sculls 
of the Hewitts against the wit of the master. 

The out-door ceremonies were almost completed, when 
two lines had been formed by the loads of fine wood thrown 
dexterously off the sleds to the right and left, almost the 

9 



§4 MIDDLETOWN. 

whole length of the yard. The place of honour, that is the 
vacant spot at the end of this avenue, alone remained to be 
occupied, having been, with one consent, left for Bill Peters, 
the most athletic man in the town. He soon came from the 
farthest wood-lot, and with the largest load, and with a 
rapidity and skill which excited general admiration, emptied 
his sled in the very spot designed, without any apparent 
exertion ; and in a moment more, had disposed of his team, 
stamped the snow from his boots, and had taken his seat 
amid the whole party at the table, where a scene of honest 
hilarity occurred which I shall not attempt to describe. 

Returning to Middletown — the approach to that city is 
beautiful from almost every quarter. The river spreads out 
in the form of a lake, and has the aspect, from several 
points, of being entirely enclosed by the green and culti- 
vated hills around it. 

In Middletown are several neat and even elegant private 
houses. The view commanded by the eminence on which 
the Wesleyan College stands, though inferior in extent to 
that from a hill in the rear, is varied and rich in an extreme. 
The fine bend of the river just below, with all that art and 
nature have done for its banks, here presents itself with 
great effect. Various manufactures are carried on with 
success, as the small tributaries of the Connecticut furnish 
much water-power, but no associations exist for the literary 
improvement of the people, with the exception of a small 
social library, founded before the Revolution. This is 
owing, in a great measure, to the emigration of a 
large proportion of the young men to commercial cities. 
The people of this place have had their full share in form* 
ing new settlements at different periods, some near and 
some far distant. Mr. White, the first settler of that part of 
the State of New- York long known by the general name of 
"VVhitestown, and now embracing several counties, went from 
this place in 17 — , with his axe only, and began with his 
own unassisted strength to clear a forest, which has now 
given room to a hundred thousand inhabitants. Human 
ingenuity and enterprise will be exerted where and when- 
ever sufficient encouragement is offered. While many 



GERMAN SETTLERS. 93 

have felt the impulse which drove them to a new country 
far away, some have been attracted by the facilities for 
manufacturing afforded by the streams, and others have 
been persevering in digging freestone from the valuable 
quarries on the opposite bank of the Connecticut. 

Among the spots of local interest may be mentioned three 
beautiful little cascades, all within about four miles of the city, 
one of them in Chatham, on the opposite side of the river. 
Laurel Grove lies on the way to another, and shades one of 
the most beautiful winding wood-land roads in New-England; 
in the spring enriched for a mile or more with the utmost 
profusion of those shrubs from which it has its name, in full 
bloom. The stream which forms the Chatham cascade 
proceeds from a pond at the elevated base of a rude bluff 
called Rattlesnake Hill, in which is a cobalt mine. It has 
not proceeded above two hundred yards when it leaps from 
a rock, and falls into a wild little basin : a delightful retreat 
from the heat of the sun. The pond is one of the head* 
waters of Salmon River, or the Moodus. That stream, 
after rushing through many romantic valleys, empties into 
the Connecticut, behind a point formed by a sweet little 
meadow which I had seen before. The country through 
which it passes was the residence of the Moodus Indians, 
who had the reputation among other tribes of being 
sorcerers ; and some traditions of them are still foimd 
among the white people, to which Brainerd's poetry refers. 

A small cluster of houses on the road near the pond have 
something a little foreign in their appearance ; and the names 
and the dialect of some of their inhabitants excite surprise 
in the stranger, who knows how homogeneous the popula- 
tion of New-England towns always is. They are the de- 
scendants of several German families, brought here some 
years ago to work the cobalt mine, which was soon found 
too unproductive to pay the expenses. There are other 
minerals in the neighbourhood, particularly in a lead mine 
on the river's bank. 

I think there can be found no pleasanter route for a trav- 
eller during a summer tour than along the river towns from 
Middletown up to Deerfield. The roads on both sides li^ 



96 AVENUES OF ELMS. 

chiefly on the fine levels which generally border this king 
of New-England streams, and the villages are all situated 
upon them, with the exception of Suffield and Enfield. 
The occasional interposition of a hill or two, and the cross- 
ing of a few ravines, afford only an agreeable variety to the 
journey. The intelligence and good habits of the people, 
the flourishing condition of the arts, the abundance of 
the comforts of life, and the homogeneous society, still 
almost everywhere preserved, present at every step objects 
of interest to the observing traveller. Here also are seen 
the birth-places of many of those who have emigrated to 
other parts of the Union, assisted in clearing the Western 
forests, and in pressing on civilization far towards the inte- 
rior of the continent. Here we see schools where men 
have received the first rudiments of the learning they have 
afterward displayed on the benches and in the legislatures 
of states, which, when they were building, were without a 
name, or perhaps an inhabitant. 

The limits which I have mentioned include the sites of 
the first settlements on the river, excepting only the military 
one at Saybrook. The convenience of travelling is greatly 
increased by the fine rows of trees, which, with some inter- 
ruptions indeed, line the roads the whole distance. I have 
not been able to ascertain whence arose the ancient practice 
of thus decorating the streets and high-roads ; but from my 
earliest recollection, the fine elms, spreading their noble 
branches over my head, excited my admiration. Many of 
them are of great age ; indeed, trunks are standing, and 
others have been recently removed, which seem to claim a 
date coeval with, or anterior to, the clearing of the forests. 
In many places, particularly in some of the villages, the 
finest trees, of extraordinary growth, form two, three, or 
four lines, and overshadow the broad path, while their trunks 
are at the same time so naked as not to shut out the view 
around. The sight of a fine tree is impressive ; but a 
journey of seventy or eighty miles through such a grove 
fosters feelings of a delightful and exalting nature. 



HARTFORD. 97 



CHAPTER XII. ' 

Hartford— Charter Hill, the Seat of the Willis Family—Public 
Institutions — Society — Antiquities. 

Hartford may be taken as a specimen of the whole 
country: on every side are seen marks of a former more 
quiescent state of things, while a hurrying, populous, and 
prosperous current, which has since set in, is rapidly flow- 
ing on. A few of the habitations of old times remain, with 
many of the sound sentiments and excellent habits of former 
days ; but as the former have been generally improved by 
modern hands, or at least furnished with comforts formerly 
unknown, without losing their pristine character or their 
venerable aspect, so where the good sense, intelligence, and 
religion of former days are found, they appear to have been 
rendered at once more valuable among their contrasts, and 
more extensively useful through the new channels now 
opened for their exercise. Every thing indicates the great 
revolution which has taken place within a few years in the 
employments of the active people of New-England, where 
so many hands are now engaged in manufactures, and the 
agency which has converted the nation into a race of 
nomades during a large part of the year. The strokes of 
hammers and the roiling of wheels are frequently heard, 
and many steamboats and stage-coaches are daily arriving 
and departing. 

After visiting the public institutions, in which Hartford 
has become very rich, and enjoying more of the society than 
I have leisure to weigh or estimate, I paid a visit to Charter 
Hill, until lately the seat of the Willises. It has passed out 
of the family, after having been occupied by them for a 
century and a half or more ; and I am the more anxious to 
describe it because it may soon lose such of its ancient 
characteristics as it yet retains. The estate lies upon the 

9* 



$S INSTITUTIONS. 

last prominent angle of an elevated range of beautiful level 
ground, which rises above the south meadows of Hartford, 
and makes a conspicuous appearance from the river, its 
banks, and several parts of the city, while it overlooks a 
large part of Hartford, and the fertile course of the Con- 
necticut for some miles. The garden occupies the level to 
the verge of the descent, having the venerable old mansion 
on the north, and a remnant of the orchard on the east, 
where I suppose stood in former times a block-house, for 
defence against the Indians. At the foot of the hill, and 
shading the street, still stands the ancient oak in full vigour, 
though tradition says that it was left a full-grown tree when 
the native forest was levelled around it. 

A smooth and verdant descent, in some places too steep 
to be safely passed, leads from the elevation towards the 
level of the extensive meadows below, on one of the upper 
levels of which the Indians once annually pitched their wig- 
wams in the summer-season, and where now are seen count- 
less fields of grass and grain, often divided by fine rows of 
trees, and occasionally bordered with bowers of native 
grape-vines. The ancient oak, which has furnished so many 
generations of sportive children with acorn cups and a really 
sublime object for their admiration, shows as yet no token 
of decay, but bids fair to flourish yet for another century. 
The charter of Connecticut colony, which owes its pres- 
ervation to this faithful trunk, seems to have imbued it in 
return with perpetual life ; and the tree is regarded with 
peculiar veneration for its connexion with that important 
event in the history of the country. 

I did not expect, when I began to speak of Charter Hill, 
to find leisure to say a word of the people of Hartford or 
their public institutions, several of which do great honour to 
their liberality and intelligence. Having a few minutes, 
however, I will say, in the first place, that the American 
Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb is the first institution of the 
kind ever founded in America, and has not only encouraged 
the establishment of all others existing in the Union, but 
has caused them to be conducted on one plan, and that 
probably the best in the world. The Ketreat for the Insane 



HARTFORD. 99 

(which by the way owes its existence chiefly to the enlight- 
ened philanthropy of the original projector of the asylum, 
the late Dr. Cogswell) has been conducted ever since its 
foundation on the most improved principles, and aided in 
bringing about an era in the treatment of insanity at which 
humanity has great reason to rejoice. The learned and 
persevering gentleman under whom this institution rose to 
an exalted reputation, the late Dr. Todd, is acknowledged 
to have effectually cured a greater proportion of the cases 
he has treated than any person in America or Europe. 
And how consoling is the reflection, that the treatment now 
dispenses with all the harsh measures, the compulsory 
means, both corporeal and mental, to which not many years 
ago the insane were subjected in hospitals, under the most 
ill-founded theories. How consoling must it be to those 
who come hither to intrust their afflicted friends to the skill 
of the ofiicers, to see the comfortable plan and arrangements 
of their destined abode, the intelligent and gentle manners 
of the superintendent, matron, physicians, and nurses, and 
to learn that the female department is under the frequent in- 
spection of a committee of the ladies of the city, among 
whom the sufferers of their own sex are sure to find the 
most delicate sympathy! How interesting it is to every 
visiter of feeling, to look upon the well-proportioned edifice, 
the spacious enclosure, and the agreeable scenery around, to 
reflect that they are all rendered subservient to the restora- 
tion of the immortal mind to the exercise of its native 
powers, and the cure of those diseases which invade and 
lay waste the nobler part of man : the reconstruction of that 
edifice whose grandeur is most astonishing w^hen it is viewed 
in shattered fragments ! 

Marks of unusual refinement and delicacy are found 
among the society of Hartford, such as we might expect 
among persons who have in some sense the oversight of so 
many objects of charitable interest. The ladies do not 
observe the pupils of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, or hear of 
or visit the tenants of the Retreat, without feelings of com- 
passion and disinterestedness ; and the persons employed in 
those institutions have opportunities for studying the nature 



100 MRS* SIGOURNEY. 

of the mind which few others possess: It is necessary for 
an intelhgent observer to witness but one lesson in a class 
of the deaf and dumb, to see that the course of instruction 
must develop the faculties of the pupils, and especially of 
the teacher, in an extraordinary degree. It was foretold of 
the Rev. Mr. Gallaudet some years ago, and very soon after 
his return from Europe, at the commencement of the 
American Asylum, that he was in a way to become a dis- 
tinguished benefactor to his country, by introducing improve- 
ments into the principles of general education. And how 
fully has experience proved the foresight of this remark ! 
With a heart of the warmest philanthropy, and a mind at 
once judicious, penetrating, inventive, and persevering, he 
has produced several books for the elementary instruction of 
children in morals and religion, which have taught many a 
parent to do what has been for ages considered impossible, 
and encouraged them to undertake more, while it has pro- 
cured for many a child advantages often denied to persons 
of mature age. 

There is to be found in Hartford a considerable amount 
of literary and scientific knowledge and taste. Beside those 
residents of both sexes who have devoted time to reading, 
the collection of specimens, the rearing of plants, &c. 
Washington College, which was established a few years 
since, in a commanding situation in the immediate environs, 
has exercised some favourable influence in this respect. 
Several schools for young ladies, at different periods, have 
also had their share in raising and supporting the intellectual 
character of the city. Among them was one taught a few 
years since by Miss Huntley, now Mrs. Lydia H. Si- 
gourney, who has distinguished herself as one of the best 
female writers of our country, in poetry and prose, and who 
has done more with her pen than almost any other of her 
sex in the United States, to elevate public sentiment, and 
to show the holy union which exists between religion 
and pure, exalted literary taste. During a few years in 
which she was devoted to the instruction of young ladies in 
this city, she employed her leisure in cultivating her own 
mind and heart, and in contributing to the enjoyments of a 



HARTFORD. 101 

social circle of which she was a member. A small literary 
society of which she was the founder, like the school 
which she instructed, was a source of moral and intel- 
lectual benefit to the various spheres in which its members 
since have moved. It was more rare then than now to see 
such exertions made, and crowned with such success ; and 
it is not easy to describe how unpromising appeared the 
project of forming such an association among the youth 
of such a town, or how gratifying was the surprise caused 
by its prosperity. Several larger and more public associa- 
tions now exist in Hartford, the number of inhabitants having 
become nearly double, and the general interest in favour of 
intellectual improvement throughout the larger and many of 
the smaller towns in this part of the country having increased 
in an equal ratio ; and to their members it will be gratifying 
to learn that such societies early received the sanction and 
aid of such an individual as Mrs. Sigourney. 

The Goodrich Association hear literary, scientific, or 
moral lectures every week through the winter from some 
of their members ; while the debates of the Ciceronean 
Lyceum also interest a large number, principally of the 
young. A social library, of considerable extent and value, 
established many years ago, has had an influence on the 
literary character of the people, though lately more than 
heretofore, as it is an important characteristic of all the 
means of knowledge that they powerfully assist each other's 
operation. The Sabbath-schools are in a most flourishing 
state ; and wherever this is the case, not religion and morals 
alone find benefit in them, but useful knowledge of every 
kind is powerfully promoted. There are now no less than 
ten or twelve churches in the city, all which, with two or 
three exceptions, have Sabbath-schools connected with 
them. A society, consisting of all the teachers, has existed 
for ten years. I had the gratification of seeing them on the 
anniversary of American Independence proceed from the 
central church, after a public service for the occasion, and 
move by schools and classes, under their appropriate teachers 
and superintendents, to a beautiful grove of young maples 
which closed over-head, and formed a complete canopy for 



102 OLD EPITAPHS. 

the street, to join their voices in sacred music and Hsten to 
an appropriate address. The spot, it happened, was near 
that formerly the annual scene of a public dinner on the 
fourth of July ; and the reflection that so gratifying a change 
had taken place in its celebration gave double interest to the 
scene. There were none of the decorations or ensigns of 
war now displayed. And indeed why should powder and 
steel have all the honour of that conquest which was 
effected primarily by the virtue and intelligence of our 
fathers ? We were presented with a procession of some 
hundreds of children, the boys generally in blue jackets and 
white pantaloons, and the girls in white frocks tied with 
blue ribands, all with cheerful faces, neat and well-behaved. 

More books are annually published in this place than in 
any other in New-England, only excepting Boston, as I 
believe. The amount it is difficult to estimate. In addition 
to other machines employed, three steam-presses are now in 
operation. 

In the old burying-ground in Hartford, in the rear of the 
centre church, are three ancient monuments, in good preser- 
vation, side by side, erected to the memory of three of the 
most distinguished men among the founders of the colony. 
They were originally placed over the graves, in some spot, 
I believe, not far from where they now are. They are 
simple slabs, of red sandstone or freestone, about five 
inches in thickness, raised on blocks of the same, and for- 
tunately of a lasting material, for after so long an exposure 
to the elements they are almost entire, and their inscrip- 
tions are easily legible. The following is a copy of the 
first epitaph on the northern stone : — 

HERE. LYETH. THE. BODY. OF. ye 
HONOVRABLE. JOHN. HAYNES, 
ESQr FIRST. GOUERNOUR. OF 
YE COLONY OF CONNECTICVTT 
IN. NEWINGLAND. WHO. DYED 
MARCH. YE. J. ANNO DOM 165=^ 

4 

There are two other similar inscriptions on the same 



HARTFORD. 103 

Stone : one to the " Rev. Mr. Joseph Haynes, minister of 
the first church in Hartford, who deceased on the twenty- 
fourth of May, Anno Dom. 1769, aged thirty-eight years ;" 
and the last to " Mrs. Sarah Haynes, rehct of Mr. Joseph 
Haynes, who deceased November the 15th, Anno Dom. 
1705, in the sixty-seventh year of her age." 

The middle stone bears the following inscription : — 

In memory of the Rev. Thomas Hooker 

Who in 1636 with his assistant Mr. Stone removed 

To Hartford with about 100 persons, where he 

Planted ye first Church in Connecticut 

An eloquent, able and faithful Minister of Christ. 

He died Iuly 7TH JEt LXI 

The following is the inscription on the third or southern 
stone : — 

R 

An epitaph on M Samuel Stone, Deceased ye 61 

yeare of his age Ivly 20 1663. 
Newengland's glory & her radiant crowne, 
Was he who now on softest bed of downe, 
Til glorious resurrection morne appeare. 
Doth safely", sweetly sleepe in Jesus here. 
In nature's solid art, <fc reasoning well, 
Tis knowne, beyond compare, he did excell : 
Errors corrupt, by sinnewous dispute. 
He did oppvgne, Sl clearly them confute : 
Above all things he Christ his Lord preferrd, 
Hartford, thy richest jewel's here interd. 

These inscriptions are copied as closely as the type of 
the present day will allow. The originals are among the 
most interesting relics in our country, and may, to all ap- 
pearance, yet be preserved for centuries, even in the open 
air, if properly protected from injury. The liberal-minded 
people of Hartford would honour themselves and the memory 
of their pious ancestors, by surrounding these invaluable 
monuments with some sufficient barrier. 



104 VISIT TO THE SPRINGS, 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Narrative of a Visit to the Springs in the last Century — Newspapers. 

A FRIEND of mine, who possesses a most accurate memory, 
has furnished me with the following account of a visit she 
made to the Springs in the year 1791, in company with 
several of her acquaintances, male and female. Thinking 
it may prove in some respects interesting to my readers, to 
have an opportunity to compare the present with the past, I 
have thought proper to insert it nearly in the words in which 
I received it. 

The party originally consisted of five, viz. three gentle- 
men and two ladies, who travelled with two gigs (then called 
chairs) and a saddle-horse. Their first plan was to pro- 
ceed only to "Lebanon Pool," now known as Lebanon 
Springs, and after a short visit there to return : some of their 
friends, who had spent a little time there in preceding years, 
having made a pleasing report of the place. The grand- 
mother of one of them, it was recollected, had returned from 
" the Pool" one pleasant day before the Revolution, and dis- 
mounted from her side-saddle, in a dark-coloured josey and 
petticoat, with the dignity proverbial of those old times, yet 
told of her cooking for dinner the pease picked by the gentle- 
men at that ancient watering-place. 

From Hartford the party proceeded westward ; and some 
idea may be formed of the fashions from the dress of one of 
the ladies, who wore a black beaver with a sugar-loaf crown, 
eight or nine inches high, called a steeple crown, wound 
round with black and red cord and tassels, being less showy 
than the gold cord sometimes worn. Habits having gone 
out of fashion, the dress was of " London smoke" broad- 
cloth, buttoned down in front and at the side with twenty- 
four gilt buttons, about the size of a half-dollar. Long 



HUDSON. 105 

waists and stays were in fashion, and the shoes were ex- 
tremely sharp-toed and high-heeled, ornamented with large 
paste buckles on the instep. At a tavern where they spent 
the first night, the ladies were obliged to surround them- 
selves with a barrier of bean-leaves to keep off the bugs which 
infested the place ; but this afforded only temporary benefit, 
as the vermin soon crept to the ceiling and fell upon them 
from above. The Green Woods, through which the road lay 
for many miles, were very rough, and in many places could 
not be travelled in carriages without danger. They scarcely 
met anybody on this part of the way, except an old man 
with a long white beard, who looked like a palmer on a 
pilgrimage to the Holy Land ; and his wife — who rode a 
horse on a saddle with a projecting pummel, then called a 
pannel, and a single iron chain for a bridle — was as ugly 
as one of Shakspeare's old crones. 

The few habitations to be seen were so uninviting, that 
the travellers usually took their meals in the open air, in 
some pleasant spot under the trees, and often by the side of 
a brook, the recollection of which is pleasant even to this 
day. After three days they reached Hudson, where they 
were introduced to a very pleasant circle by a friend who 
resided in the place, and after sufficient repose they pro- 
ceeded. A gentleman, who had come to attend a ball, here 
joined the party, sending a messenger home for clothes ; 
and although he did not receive them, and had only his 
dancing dress, persisted in proceeding with them. He 
mounted his horse, therefore, in a suit of white broad- 
cloth, with powdered hair, small-clothes, and white silk 
stockings. While at Hudson, it had been determined that 
they would go directly to Saratoga, where several of the 
inhabitants of Hudson then were ; the efficacy of the water 
in restoring health being much celebrated, as well as the 
curious round and hollow rock from which it flowed. Hud- 
son was a flourishing village, although it had been settled 
but about seven years, by people from Nantucket and 
Rhode Island. 

In the afternoon the prospect of a storm made the travel- 
lers hasten their gait, and they stopped for the night at an 

10 



100 THE SPRINGS IN 1791. 

old Dutch house, which, notwithstanding the uncouth aspect 
of a fireplace without jams, was a welcome retreat from the 
weather. The thunder, lightning, and rain soon came on, 
and prevailed for some hours, but left a clear sky in the 
morning, when the party proceeded, and reached Albany at 
breakfast-time. Some of the party were greatly alarmed 
at the sight of an old woman at a door in one of the streets, 
with her face shockingly disfigured by the small-pox, in a 
state of activity, for one of the ladies had never had that 
disease, and was near enough to be exposed to the con- 
tagion. By the presence of mind of her companions, how- 
ever, she was prevented from observing the painful object, 
and from such apprehension as they felt for her, until the 
time for the appearance of the disease had passed. The 
old Dutch church, with its pointed roof and great window 
of painted glass, stood at that time at the foot of State- 
street. 

At Troy, where the travellers took tea, there were only 
about a dozen houses : the place having been settled only 
three years by people from Killingworth, Saybrook, and 
other towns in Connecticut. Lansingburgh was an older 
and more considerable town ; containing apparently more 
than a hundred houses, and inhabited principally by emi- 
grants from the same state. The tavern was a very good 
one ; but the inhabitants were so hospitable to the party, 
who were known through mutual friends, that the time was 
spent almost entirely at private houses. After a delay of 
two nights and a day, they proceeded on their journey. 
Crossing the Hudson to Waterford by a ferry, they went 
back as far as the Mohawk to see the Cohoes Falls, of 
which they had a fine view from the northern bank, riding 
along the brow of the precipice in going and returning. 

On the road to the Mohawk the travellers met a party of 
psome of the most respectable citizens of Albany in a common 
country wagon, without a cover, with straw under feet, and 
with wooden chairs for seats : their family-coach being too 
heavy for short excursions. Two gentlemen on horse- 
back, in their company, finding that our travellers were 
going to Saratoga, ofiered to accompany them to the scene 



A WILDERNESS. 107 

of battle at Behmis's Heights, and thither they proceeded 
after visiting the Cohoes. 

" We dined," said my informant, " in the house which 
was General Burgoyne's head-quarters in 1777 ; and one 
of the females who attended us was there during the battle. 
She informed us of many particulars, showed us a spot upon 
the floor which was stained with the blood of General 
Frazer, who," she added, " when brought in mortally 
wounded from the field, was laid upon the table at which 
we were seated. During the funeral, the American troops, 
who had got into the British rear on the opposite side of 
the river, and had been firing over the house, on discovering 
the cause of the procession up the steep liill, where Frazer 
had requested to be interred, not only ceased firing, but 
played a dead march in compliment to his memory." 

" On leaving the battle-ground for Saratoga Lake, our party 
were reduced in number to four by the loss of four gentle- 
men ; two of whom, however, intended to overtake us, if 
possible, before night. The country we had now to pass 
over, after leaving the banks of the Hudson, was very un- 
inviting, and almost uninhabited. The road lay through a 
forest, and was formed of logs. We travelled till late in 
the afternoon before we reached a house, to which we had 
been directed for our lodging. It stood in a solitary place, 
in an opening of the dark forest, and had so comfortless an 
appearance, that without approaching to take a near view, 
or alighting, we determined to proceed farther. It was 
a wretched log-hut, with only one door, which had never 
been on hinges, was to be lifted by every person coming 
in and going out, and had no fastening except a few nails. 
We halted at the sight of it ; and one of the gentlemen rode 
up to take a nearer view. Standing up in his saddle, he 
peeped into a square hole which served as a window, but 
had no glass nor shutter, and found the floor the bare earth, 
with scarcely any furniture to be seen. Nothing remained 
for us but to proceed, and make our way to the Springs as 
fast as possible ; for we knew of no human habitation 
nearer ; and when or how we might hope to reach there, 



lOS THE SPRINGS IN 1791. ■ 

we could not tell. We were for a time extremely dis- 
pirited, until the gentleman who had joined us at Hudson 
came forward (still in his ball-dress), and endeavoured to 
encourage us, saying, that if we would but trust to his guid- 
ance, he doubted not that he should be able to conduct us 
safely and speedily to a more comfortable habitation. 

" This raised our hopes ; and we followed him cheerfully, 
though the day was now at its close, and the forest seemed 
thicker and darker than before. When the last light at 
length had disappeared, and we found ourselves in the 
deepest gloom, our guide confessed that he had encouraged 
us to keep us from despair ; and that as to any knowledge 
of the road, he had never been there before in his life. He 
however dismounted, tied his horse behind our chair, and 
taking the bridle of our own, began to lead him on, groping 
his way as well as he was able, stepping into one mud-hole 
after another without regard to his silk stockings, sometimes 
up to his beauish knee-buckles. It seemed as if we were 
going for a long time down a steep hill into some bottom- 
less pit ; and every few minutes one wheel would pass 
over a log or a stump so high as almost to overset us. At 
length we insisted on stopping, and spent a quarter of an 
hour in anxiety and doubt, being unable to determine what 
we had better do. We heard the voices of animals in 
the woods, which some of us feared might attack us. At 
length one of the gentlemen declared that a sound which 
we had heard for some time at a distance, could not be the 
howl of a wolf, for which we had taken it, but must be the 
barking of a wolf-dog, and indicated that the habitation of 
his master was not very far off, proposing to go in search 
of it. The gentlemen were unwilling to leave us alone ; 
but we insisted that they might need each other's assist- 
ance, and made them go together. But it was a long time 
before we heard from them again. How long they were 
gone I do not know, for we soon became impatient and 
alarmed ; but at length we discovered a light among the 
trees, which shining upon the trunks and boughs, made a 
beautiful vista, like an endless Gothic arch, and showed a 



LOST IN THE WOODS. 109 

thousand tall columns on both sides. We discovered them 
returning, accompanied by two men, who led us off the road^ 
and stuck up lighted pine knots to guide our friends. 

" Under their guidance we found our way to a log-house, 
containing but one room, and destitute of every thing except 
hospitable inhabitants ; so that, although we were admitted, 
we found we should be obliged to make such arrangements as 
we could for sleeping. There was no lamp or candle: 
light being supplied by pine knots stuck in the crevices of 
the walls. The conversation of the family proved that 
wild beasts were very numerous and bold in the surround- 
ing forest, and that they sometimes, when hungry, ap- 
proached the house ; and there was a large aperture left at 
the bottom of the door to admit the dogs when in danger 
from wolves. The floor extended on one side but to within 
the distance of several feet of the wall, a space being left to 
kindle the fire upon the bare ground ; and when we wanted 
tea made, the mistress of the house could produce only a 
single kettle, in which water was boiled for washing and 
every other purpose. She had heard of teakettles, but had 
never seen one ; and was impressed with an idea of the 
usefulness of such a utensil. When we had spread the 
table, out of our own stores, and divided tea-cups and 
saucers, a porringer, &:c., among us, we seated ourselves, 
partly on the bedstead, and partly on a kind of arm-chair, 
which was formed by an old round table when raised per- 
pendicularly, and thus partook of a meal. 

" We were, however, suddenly alarmed by cries or 
screams at a little distance in the forest, which some of 
us supposed to be those of wolves or bears. Our host, 
after listening a while, declared his belief that they were the 
cries of some travellers who had lost their way, and pro- 
ceeded with the gentlemen to search for them. They found 
our two expected friends, who had followed the path lighted 
by the torches, but unfortunately wandered from it a little, 
and soon found before them a wall too high to reach from 
their stirrups. They attempted to retreat ; but found it also 
behind them ; and though they rode round and round, feel- 
ing for a place of exit, could find none, and then began to 

10* 



110 THE SPRINGS IN 1791. 

call for assistance, hoping that some dwelling might be 
within the reach of their voices. Being happily relieved and 
restored to us, the adventures of the evening served as a 
subject of pleasantry. They had unconsciously entered a 
pound or pen for bears, by a very narrow entrance, which 
in the darkness they could not find again, and thus their 
embarrassment was fully explained. We slept that night 
on our luggage and saddles ; but our hospitable hosts re- 
fused all reward in the morning. 

" On reaching the Springs at Saratoga, we found but 
three habitations, and those poor log-houses, on the high 
bank of the meadow, where is now the western side of the 
street, near the Round Rock. This was the only spring 
then visited. The houses were almost full of strangers, 
among whom were several ladies and gentlemen from 
Albany; and we found it almost impossible to obtain ac- 
commodations, even for two nights. We found the Round 
Rock at that time entire ; the large tree which some years 
since fell and cracked a fissure in it being then standing near, 
and the water, which occasionally overflowed, and increased 
the rock by its deposites, keeping the general level three 
or four inches below the top. The neighbourhood of the 
Spring, like all the country we had seen for many miles, 
was a perfect forest ; and there were no habitations to be 
seen in all the vicinity, except the three log-houses, which 
afforded us little more than a shelter. We arrived on 
Saturday, and left there on Monday morning for Ballston, 
which we reached after a short ride. But there the ac- 
commodations for visiters were still less inviting. The 
Springs, of which there were several, were entirely unpro- 
tected, on the borders of a woody swamp, and near the 
brook, in which we saw bubbles rising in several places, 
which indicated other springs. There were two or three 
miserable habitations, but none in which a shelter could be 
obtained. There was a small hovel, into which some of 
the water was conducted for bathing; but as there was 
nothing like comfort to be found, we proceeded homeward 
after spending a short time at the place." 

Such is a brief account of a journey to the Springs in th© 



THE PRESS. Ill 

last century; and how difficult it is to realize that the 
changes which have since occurred can have taken place 
within the life of man ! And yet, where do we look with- 
out finding evidence of similar, if not equal alterations, often 
effected in a shorter period ? 

On the road up Connecticut River, over which I passed 
at such a rate as to give me little opportunity to record or 
even to make many remarks, every one must be struck with 
the size and number of the manufactories which have been 
multiplied and magnified to such an extent all over the 
country within a few years. 

^|. * * # * J g^^ ^Yie name of John Tympan, an old 
schoolmate, on a tin sign over the door of a printing-office ; 
and recollecting that I had heard of his being the experienced 
editor of the village journal, I revived the acquaintance of 
past days, and lounged several hours in his room during 
my stay in the place. The conversations I there held and 
overheard, with the little I had known of the press and its 
appurtenances (viz. public taste and such matters), in pre- 
ceding years, threw my mind into a train of thought, 
which, if I were to judge from the well-known soporific 
qualities of Mr. Tympan's sheet which I had in my hand, 
was probably indulged in during a short slumber. First, I 
fancied I saw all the forms in w^hich the Chinese wooden 
stereotype has ever appeared, and those through which 
have passed the type of Europe since they left the hands 
of Guttenburg, Janssoen, Faust, and Shoffer, till they 
reached those of Firmin Didot and his English rivals. And 
what a mass was there ! Centuries of black letter, suc- 
ceeded by the floods of light-faced type which may be said 
to have been the chief means of " illuminating" the world 
since the cry for knowledge has extended beyond the walls 
of convents. And the sight may be better imagined than 
described ! Then came a whole parque of presses, more 
numerous than the abortive models of machines in the 
Patent-office at Washington, presenting all possible applica- 
tions of the lever, screw, wheel, weight, plane, (fee, except 
the most useful. There was the old Ramage press, the f.rst 
which I recognised as an acquaintance, and I looked upon 



112 ROUTE UP CONNECTICUT RIVER. 

its lumbering uprights and simple sweeping lever with a de- 
gree of reverence, because its physiognomy revived the im- 
pressions of childhood, when I had contemplated it as the 
press, though its plan is exploded, and the power of muscle 
and the ages of days' works that are now seen to have been 
wasted upon it, might have made fifty canals across Darien, 
Next came to my view the folios, the quartos, the octavos, 
and the rest of their family down to double twenty-four- 
mos, with their various bindings, gildings, clasps, and em- 
bossings displayed, and their fluttering leaves showing hints 
of their contents. A deluge of ideas floated through my 
mind at the sight ; as I turned from the books which boasted 
only of reviving the fooleries of antiquity with its knowledge, 
to those monuments of modern invention, in which the 
giant and the pigmy, the amaranth and the four-o'clock lie 
side by side. 

How forcibly may the quaint words of some of the old 
books of my vision be applied to the present times ! 

" Circa hoc etiam tempus," says Caxton (in continuatione 
Polycronici Ranulphi Higden, Anglice a se translati, quae 
cum opere ipso prodiit Londini a. 1482 (as) circa a. 1455), 
" Circa hoc etiam tempus : — also abowte this tyme the 
crafte of empryntynge was fyrst founde in Magounce in 
Almayne. Why the crafte is multiplyed thorugh the worlde 
in many places, and bokes be hadd grete chepe and in grete 
nombre bycause of the same crafte." 

Like as says an " Anonymus auctor" in 1457 : — 

" Printerys of bokis wer this tyme mightely multeplied in 
Maguncie and thurgh out the world ; and thei began frist, 
and they held the craftis. And this time mony men began 
for to be more sotell in craftis and suyfter than ever they 
wer a fore." 

After these came such a motley army of mankind as 
no masquerade ever presented, composed of the readers of 
all ages and climes, of all hues and characters. These I 
cannot undertake to describe : but if it be as amusing to 
others as it was to myself to fancy their appearance, they 
may agreeably fill up some hour of leisure by recalling 
them. 



MUSIC. 113 

America suddenly came to mind ; and with it the sky 
seemed darkened with a cloud of newspapers, which were 
flying off night and day from thousands of presses, whose 
creaking, clanking, rattling, hissing, and groaning gave evi- 
dence of the gigantic strife going on around us, between the 
cylinder machines of latest invention and the various lever- 
presses which call old Ramage their grandfather, with not 
a few which have steam or mules for their moving-power, 
and some with asses for their guides. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Music — New-England Villages contrasted with Italy on this subject — 
A Traveller in search of Health — Burying-grounds — Rural Cele- 
bration of Independence at Northampton — ^Amherst — Academies of 
Massachusetts — Exhibition. 

Every Sabbath on my journey I spent at some village, 
and was usually much gratified at church with the perform- 
ance of the choirs. There is scarcely any thing in which 
we are more apt to indulge false ideas than music. I do 
sincerely believe that we are rather discouraged than in- 
structed or incited by the example of foreign nations who 
cultivate this delightful art. Writers tell us of the musical 
talent of the common people of Italy, Switzerland, and 
Germany; the genius of their composers, and the native 
skill of many Europeans with musical instruments. Common 
readers, therefore, are apt to believe that our countrymen 
labour under some natural deficiency, which is not to be 
overcome. When they are further complimented with re- 
marks on the want of ear in America, or the length of time 
which will be required to train up a taste for music, like a 
plant of slow growth, many of them believe that every effort 
would be in vain, and that every hope of seeing an improve- 
ment in their day would be presumptuous. We must there-* 



114 ROUTE UP CONNECTICUT RIVER. 

fore transplant some languishing Italian troupe from the 
sties of foreign green-rooms, or tow across the Atlantic 
some second-rate puffer, as windy as a porpoise, to howl 
and make the grimaces of the rack, and set our pretenders 
in ecstasies. Now all this is founded on mere mistake. 

In the first place, the people of Italy, who have the credit 
of being refined in throat and ear beyond all the rest of the 
race of men, have no more taste than you or I, nor half as 
much. They listen to street musicians whom we could 
never tolerate ; and as for the performances of their masters, 
they never hear them. The common people of Italy have 
no training in music except the chanting in their churches 
and funeral processions, and the strumming of guitars in the 
streets. The plain matter of fact is, divesting the subject 
of all poetry — that is, of all falsehood or ignorance — that 
our farmers' sons and daughters, wherever they attend 
singing-schools, join the church choir, and practise, as 
they generally do, at home, enjoy advantages far superior to 
those of the common people of Italy, who are too ignorant, 
poor, and degraded to have such advantages in their reach, 
or to appreciate them if they had. They are not musicians, 
they do not sing in their churches, the music there being 
conducted by hired performers, of a character very different 
from our choirs of volunteers I assure you, and they are not 
familiarized with refined music. Here is enough to kill one 
prejudice. As to our natural want of genius or talent, the 
presumption is entirely gratuitous, and we may challenge 
the proof, rejecting the idea in toto until it be produced. 
And so with the doctrine that our progress in this or any 
other improvement must be slow, because this or that Eu- 
ropean nation chose to be five or ten centuries in emerging 
from semi-barbarism — this is as idle as the other, in all ap- 
plications. Such a doctrine, although it is swallowed and 
acted upon every day by multitudes of our intelligent coun- 
trymen, ought to be rejected, like certain other productions 
of the Old World which are unsuited to our stomachs. 
There is no reason why we should not introduce any im- 
provement, physical or moral, to be found on earth, com- 
patible with our state of society. Whoever teaches other- 



MUSIC. 115 

Avisc teaches heresy. We have superior means, facilities, 
and resources, if ihey were properly appreciated, to the na- 
tions of Europe in general, to effect any improvement we 
need ; and it is only to believe it, and set ourselves in 
earnest about it, and the thing would be done. We have 
no arbitrary government to forbid us, no irreconcileable 
divisions in society to impede a general co-operation, no 
impenetrable cloud of ignorance over the public, no lack 
of the machinery of civilization to rouse the mind or to 
direct it, no want of intercourse with other quarters of the 
world, no scarcity of enterprise in undertaking, or of 
encouragement in success. 

Music has led me to these general remarks, because in 
speaking of this art I was forced to lament in her depres- 
sion the influence of prejudices totally unfounded, and in- 
tolerably discreditable to our intelligence and feelings. 
Where do we go without hearing that divine maid complain- 
ing, in some sick and mournful ditty, of the injustice of 
Americans ? And the other fine arts, refining as they might 
be among us, join in the same plaintive tone. Let us not so 
far ill treat these our true friends, as to turn away any longer 
from their calls and requests. Landing upon our shores, 
we do not meet them with smiles and welcome. They 
have reason to look here for an asylum and a home; but 
though among the fairest exiles from the old world, they 
come with their loveliness somewhat deformed or saddened 
by persecution or restrictions contrary to their nature, we 
repulse them from our society, which they might so greatly 
enrich and adorn. " This is not the land for the arts — we 
have no native talent, genius, or taste." Our eyes look with 
pleasure on the beauties of nature, and our ears are pleased 
with the music of our forests ; but wise Europeans have 
said that we are insensible to beauty and grace, and that 
centuries must pass before we can hope to arrive at that 
state of refinement of which they boast. 

Although the inhabitants of this part of our country have 
cultivated sacred music for half a century, more has been 
done within two or three years to place this delightful art 
on its proper footing than ever before. A society has been 



116 ROUTE UP CONNECTICUT RIVER. 

formed in Boston, called the Massachusetts Academy of 
Music, by which the German system of juvenile and popular 
instruction has been introduced in several of our cities, and 
to some extent in the country, chiefly through Messrs. 
Mason and Ives ; the success has been astonishing to those 
who have embraced the common erroneous views about 
national genius, native inferiority, &-c., &;c. This important 
step, to which many of the rising generation will owe great 
sources of pleasure for life, has been primarily due to Mr. 
Woodbridge, the enlightened, philanthropic, and persevering 
editor of the American Annals of Education ; who, after 
five years spent in Europe among the literary men and in- 
stitutions of the Old World, returned to his native country 
three or four years since to devote himself to the diffusion 
of knowledge, on some of the most important subjects, for 
the intellectual and moral benefit of America. All that a 
friend of the country need wish is, that he may impress us 
all with the great truths he proclaims as strongly as he has 
impressed some parents with the fact that their children 
have flutes and organs in their throats which may be very 
sweetly and very cheaply played upon. 

A young man, of sallow complexion and emaciated ap- 
pearance, who was travelUng for his health, was on the 
route with me. He had enjoyed no advantages of educa- 
tion superior to those of a district school, until the clergy- 
man of the village, perceiving in him that insatiable thirst 
for knowledge which I have so often observed in the young 
when possessed of true piety, proposed that he should pre- 
pare for the desk, and ofl^ered him gratuitous instruction. 
He was the favourite of the whole town, as I learned from 
other lips than his own, not on account of any external 
grace or beauty, for in those he was far from being rich ; 
but because his character was of an elevated kind, and his 
life one of the most blameless and honourable. No friendly 
office in his power was withholden from anybody; and how 
many times in a year may a truly benevolent man confer 
kindness, if he but seeks for opportunities ! Every one in 
such a village of farmers knew what his neighbours did, 
without inquiring from mere idle curiosity. Of course the 



RESPECTABILITY OF INDUSTRY. 117 

early humble life of this youth were known, as well as his 
dutiful conduct towards his mother ; and all witnessed and 
were surprised at the mental efforts it required in him, with- 
out the aid of conceit or the show of arrogance, to the 
second rank in society; that is, next the clergyman him- 
self. As his substitute, he often was called to act, particu- 
larly in the Sunday-schools. I understood that he felt a 
strong desire to devote himself for life to some distant mis- 
sion, but had not yet formed any ultimate determination. 
His knowledge of such passing information, however, as 
-abounds in the reports and publications of religious and 
benevolent societies, had at once expanded his mind and his 
heart, and rendered him an instructive companion to those 
who had a taste on such subjects. He had therefore been 
urged by his townsmen to take a journey to a more healthy 
part of the country, when he was found to be in a threaten- 
ing state, and was furnished by them with an old horse and 
a wagon, and such pecuniary means as he stood in need of; 
for he was looked upon as a kind of public property, and 
may yet live and recover, I hope, to prove an honour to his 
native village. 

This case I mention as a specimen of one of the ways by 
>vhich deserving youths sometimes rise among us. As 
nothing in the institutions of the country, or in the preju- 
dices of the people forbids the exaltation of virtue, her up- 
ward tendency is in a thousand cases permitted and even 
assisted, when in other countries it would be hopelessly dis- 
couraged or entirely suppressed. The road to usefulness 
and distinction is not opened to persons of all classes, in 
our constitution merely; it is not only laid down upon paper, 
but is familiarly known and trodden. Hence it is a matter 
of notoriety, that not a few of the men now eminent in the 
different learned professions, have risen from the workshops 
of the humbler branches of mechanical trade where thev 
had been apprenticed. From this fact it might be presumed 
that the useful arts would be generally regarded with re- 
spect ; and this is true to a considerable extent, although 
some of our luxurious citizens, among their muhiplied false 
notions, really believe that there is something in exercising 

11 



118 ROUTE UP CONNECTICUT RIVER. 

an honest handicraft more degrading than idleness in its 
genteeler forms. 

The burying-grounds of New-England are among the 
most interesting objects to which the traveller can direct his 
attention. Monuments are to be found, in almost all the 
older settlements, bearing unequivocal testimony to the 
learning as well as piety of our ancestors, and the good 
order which has ever prevailed in their society. I wish, 
with all my heart, that I could refer to the condition of these 
venerable memorials as evidence of a becoming regard for 
ihem among the inhabitants, and a proper care for their 
preservation. Unfortunately, quite the contrary is the case ; 
for ancient grave-stones are often allowed to become over- 
thrown by the frost, and to lie covered with moss or herbage 
from year to year. One single person in each village, by 
proper means, might incite the people to keep their ceme- 
teries well enclosed, and kept in order ; and nothing but a 
little spirit is wanting through the country at large, to have 
the most venerable memorials of the dead preserved from 
unnecessary injury and from loss. 

So closely connected are many of these monuments with 
important events in the history of the country, that we 
ought to use them as practical assistants in the instruction 
of the young; and parents and teachers might communicate 
many lasting impressions to their children, by visiting with 
them the graves of the good and learned men of pre- 
ceding generations, inviting their aid in deciphering the epi- 
taphs, enumerating their praiseworthy deeds, and repeating 
some of their virtuous counsels. Why should such simple and 
delightful modes and topics of instruction be neglected, while 
much complicated and expensive machinery is employed to 
fix the minds of the young exclusively on distant nations 
and countries ? 

With thoughts like these, and with many feelings which 
I shall not attempt to express, I have visited many of the 
burying-grounds, usually at morning or evening, when the 
journey of the day had been performed, or before it had 
begun ; and thus I have sometimes obtained the knowledge 
of lacts which I had not been able to derive from living 



AMHERST. 119 

sources. I might here insert a few of the epitaphs which I 
copied in different places ; but will merely, at present, re- 
mark, that those who have frequent access to old burying- 
grounds, may perform a useful task by at least copying in- 
scriptions, and making drawings of monuments, and de- 
positing them in some society or institution, to be pre- 
served or published for the benefit of others. The Rev. 
Mr. Alden, some years since, undertook the useful and pious 
task of rescuing the best epitaphs from loss and oblivion, 
and his own memory should be honoured for it. The book 
containing his collection will hereafter be prized by some 
generation more worthy of its descent than we show our- 
selves to be. 

I am obliged to pass, without remark, some of the places 
most worthy of notice to strangers, and among them Spring- 
field. I have not leisure to insert all my memoranda, much 
less to record all the reflections which occurred to me on 
this or any other part of my interesting tour. I cannot, 
however, let Northampton pass without some allusion to the 
tasteful manner in which the Anniversary of our Indepen- 
dence is usually celebrated in that ancient and beautiful town. 

In an orchard which extends to the bank of a little brook, 
just out of sight from the streets of the village, a spacious 
bower is formed by adding evergreen bushes and vines to 
the shade of the trees, and sprinkling the dark foliage with 
flowers. A large table is spread upon the sm.ooth grass be- 
neath ; and as the decorations of the place employ the hands 
of the fair the day preceding that of the celebration, and 
they preside at the entertainment, the scene is one of the 
liveliest and most appropriate that can be imagined. In 
so pure, intelligent, and polished a society, a foreigner 
would find much to instruct him in American manners, 
as well as to excite his better feelings. 

No village that I have seen in this part of the coun- 
try has risen so fast to eminence as a literary place as 
Amherst. I had admired the bold, swelling, and fertile 
grazing-country, with its fine views, while it was only a 
common village. How great has been the change ! On 
one of the finest eminences stands the college, now one of 



120 ROUTE UP CONNECTICUT RIVER. 

the most flourishing in the Union ; and two academies, one 
for the education of females, are found in other parts of the 
town. The academies of New-England, and particularly 
those of Massachusetts, form one of the most important 
branches of the great machinery of public education. Their 
history shows the importance af making provision for the in- 
struction of the young, even if some of the means adopted be 
not immediately found as useful as might be desired. In 
Massachusetts there are sixty-two academies, which derive 
funds from various sources ; twenty-one of them from a 
township of land each, in the state of Maine. For some 
years they were generally in a condition far from flourish- 
ing, and some in decay. Public opinion having since im- 
proved in relation to instruction, these institutions have 
been rendered extremely efficient in affording it, and will 
probably become much more so. There were probably 
about twenty-five thousand pupils in the academies and 
private schools of Massachusetts in 1832, out of a popula- 
tion, according to the census of that year, of a little more 
than six hundred thousand. Six of the academies are de- 
voted exclusively to females, and many of them have a 
female department. The branches of instruction and dis- 
cipline have been much improved, but not a Ihtle remains 
to be done. One of the greatest evils with many of them 
is, that they embrace many branches of secondary import- 
ance, even when the pupils are to devote but a few months to 
their studies. Comparatively intelligent as the common peo- 
ple of this part of the country are supposed to be, they are 
yet unable to appreciate the real acquisitions of their children, 
or at least generally apprehend that others cannot. They 
therefore demand visible and tangible signs, to indicate to the 
senses what without such aid might not be discovered or 
valued. A picture must be painted, a few tunes strummed 
on the piano, or a few words of some foreign tongue ac- 
quired, to bear witness to their intellectual progress — to 
show that the teacher has returned to the parent a quid 
pro quo — the value of his money. 1 have often seen such 
things displayed ; and how much is it like Hudibras's cul- 
prit at the bar, — 



EXHIBITION OF AN ACADEMY. 121 



" Holding up his hand 



By twelve freeholders to be scann'd, 
That by their skill in palmistry" 

they might determine whether the charge against him were 
just or not. 

Some of the defects of the system may be seen at an ex-^ 
hibition, such as I once attended, at an academy on the banks 
of the Connecticut. The burthen of the evening vvas formed 
of several dialogues, or short dramatic pieces, in no way 
suited to the people or the state of society. A little art, I 
think, might have fabricated good ones ; but we are still 
very dependent on foreign ideas and models, especially in 
literary matters. The audience there assembled would 
have listened with benefit to any sensible production. There 
was an old threadbare and antiquated satire on fashions, 
aimed, like Sidrophel's telescope, at a kite instead of a 
star — at the forms of dress now long-forgotten, instead of 
any one of the thousand follies we practise daily in de- 
fiance of reason — and applauded by the audience like a 
palpable hit. The magnificence of ancient heroes was set 
forth ; addresses were made to engage us i — the Roman 
Senate, sitting " in cold debate" — (viz. just cracking our 
cheeks at old steeple-crowned bonnets and hooped petti- 
coats) — " to sacrifice our lives to honour." Then came up 
a fearful tragedy, the heroine of which had a provincial 
tone : " Haow naow ! Is that you. Roily ?" Daniel and 
the lions in a calico den ; and Joseph, with two front-teeth 
knocked out, a head taller than all his brethren, and dressed 
in a white counterpane, are all 1 have to mention, in addition, 
except the tune of " Farewell ye Green Fields," played by 
heroes, orators, lions, and prophets, at the close of thi^ 
miserable medley.. 



W 



122 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Female Chavaeter — A Connecticut School — Scenery on Connecticut 
River — Deerfield — Turner's Falls — Early State of the Country. ^ 

How different are our females from most others in the 
world I How much is society indebted to their influence ; 
how large a portion of our intelligence, as well as our vir- 
tue, do we owe to them as individuals ! What would our 
country be if they were allowed less influence in society? 
how much like our country might others soon be if they re- 
sembled it in this respect ! In what does the excellence 
of our females consist, whence is it derived, how may it 
best be extended and perpetuated ? Such questions as 
these force themselves upon the mind of a traveller in our 
country ; and how important is it that we should be able to 
answer them ! 

In what does their excellence consist I In every thing, 
some would have us believe; and indeed it would be diffi- 
cult to find any thing truly good of which they are not the 
supporters or the patrons, if not the projectors. Let an in- 
telligent traveller but observe, and he will find that wherever 
there is an upward tendency^ a refining process going on, 
it is promoted by them. They are more dependent than 
men for their enjoyments on the peace and good order, as 
well as the intelligence of the society around them ; they 
are more trained to feelings of dependence, and therefore 
more readily or more entirely cast their confidence on God. 
They have more leisure for reflection, and can judge with 
more deliberation and less passion than men, while they 
have better opportunities to use such means of self-improve- 
ment as they possess. As they converse more than men, 
they more frequently bring their own minds and hearts into 
comparison with others, and find stronger motives for ren- 
dering them worthy of inspection. 

The institutions of our country have denied to females the 



AN OLD-FASHIONED SCHOOL. 123 

means of intellectual improvement proportioned to their de- 
sires, as well as a proper regard to their sex. In conse- 
quence, we find that fashion has too extensively occupied 
the ground, and that attempts have been made to polish the 
manners and to ensure external graces. The exaltation 
and the influence of females in our country are owing chiefly 
to their domestic education ; for none other worthy of the 
name is yet afforded them, with a very few and limited 
exceptions. Our best men, indeed, have been, to a great 
extent, moulded at home, into forms in which they have only 
expanded in after-life. If there ever was a country in which 
female influence was exercised in proportion to its value, it 
is our own. And what is the result ? Ask the man whose 
early instructions and examples have implanted and cher- 
ished every good thing which his mind and heart contain, and 
whose influence longest remains, even after death has re- 
moved its source from his sight. Inquire of the father why 
he labours more cheerfully, values his own character more 
highly, takes greater pleasure in home, than the men of 
other countries. Look at our books and newspapers, and 
see why they are not less pure than they are. You will 
find, if you have the knowledge and the means necessary to 
come at the facts, that woman is exercising a control and 
direction of a most extensive and salutary kind on society. 
Look where you will, if you see aright, wherever good is to 
be obtained or to be done, or evil prevented, you will find 
her or her influence. 

In one of the towns in Connecticut (I will not at present 
say which, although I am now out of the state), I stepped 
for a few minutes into a school-house one day, and was 
saluted by such a confused sound of voices that I hardly 
could remember where I was. The teacher was mending 
pens for one class, which was sitting idle ; hearing another 
spell ; calling to a covey of small boys to be quiet, who had 
nothing to do but make mischief; watching a big rogue who 
had been placed standing on a bench in the middle of the 
room for punishment ; and to many little ones passionately 
answering questions of "May I go out?" "May I go 
home ?" " Shan't Johnny be still T' " May I drink ?" 



124 ROUTE UP CONNECTICUT RIVER. 

My entrance checked the din, and allowed the teacher an 
opportunity to raise an unavailing complaint of the total in- 
difference of the public towards the school, the neglect and 
contempt to which those are condemned, by universal con- 
sent, who undertake the instruction of the young ; the 
manner in which the objects of education are underrated^ 
even by the best members of the community, and the innu- 
merable evils which in this state of things befall the children, 
the parents, and the public. 

Is it possible, thought I, that in old Connecticut, with her 
two millions of school-fund, the devotion of her fathers and 
many of her children to literature and general intelligence, 
with all her influence thus gained abroad, and the reputation 
she enjoys for fostering education, there can be a school like 
this 1 Much to my surprise, however, I learnt that there 
are many more which are not superior to it. And why is 
it? I afterwards conversed with individuals of the highest 
character and influence in the place, men of education, and 
even literary distinction, who had, I doubt not, made public 
expressions in favour of the universal diffusion of know- 
ledge ; and yet not one of them could give me any real in- 
formation in relation to the public schools. They thought 
them indispensable appendages to society, or rather the 
ground-work of intelligence ; and believed they required 
great and immediate improvement. But what were their 
excellencies or deficiencies, or by what means they might 
be improved, they seemed neither to know nor greatly to 
care. Indeed, they generally had not any certain knowledge 
of the number of the schools, their location, number of pupils,^ 
or course of studies. Those who had attended to instruction 
in any form, had devoted a little time to the higher school* 
in the place, at which a small number of the wealthier 
parents had their sons and daughters ; and although they 
had succeeded in placing them on a most excellent footing, 
they had never thought how easily they might confer equal 
benefits on a far more numerous and more needy class. 
They had never considered how important it is to the moral 
character of children, as well as to their progress in know- 



SCENERY. 125 

ledge, that they should be kept constantly and agreeably 
occupied in school, or what aid might be afforded to the 
teacher, in discipline and instruction, by the introduction 
of a few easy improvements. They had never inquired 
whether a map, an enumeration frame, or a black board 
would not be a valuable acquisition, and afford opportunities 
to vary agreeably the dry routine of the day, in which the 
only changes often are from doing little to doing nothing, 
or doing wrong. They had never thought that a few bits of 
different kinds of wood or stone, or a few shells or leaves, 
might be occasionally exhibited with advantage, and made 
the foundation of a useful lecture of ten minutes. They 
had never reflected how a frequent visit from a clergyman, 
lawyer, physician, or merchant might encourage and gratify 
teachers and pupils ; or how a meeting of teachers, patron- 
ized by some of the influential inhabitants, might raise know- 
ledge in public estimation by raising its ministers, the com- 
mon school-masters. I found a few persons who seemed 
more sensible, and who had taken active measures in one 
branch of this subject : they were ladies. 

The scenery of Connecticut River presents a constant 
variety, from the intermingling and alternations of its few 
general features. These are, the fertile meadows of different 
breadths which line its banks in so many parts of its course, 
and in some places form two or three successive levels of 
different elevations, which are supposed to have been the 
beds of lakes successively drained ; the uplands and the 
hills or mountains. The lowest levels are overflown by 
the high floods of the spring and autumn, which convert 
them again into lakes, and leave a rich deposite, though 
they sometimes destroy extensive crops. The second 
meadows or the uplands then become the shores, or in 
some cases islands ; and boats often float where, during the 
other seasons, the cattle feed in droves, or draw the cart 
among the hay or corn-fields. The higher levels are 
sometimes channelled by rills of water, which have deeply 
notched their edges in the course of time, and left projec- 
tions like the salient angles of gigantic fortresses, almost 
over the head of the traveller on the meadows below, 



126 ROUTE UP CONNECTICUT RIVER. 

and presenting a pleasing variety of foliage and crops. 
The light at morning and evening, the winter's snow, the 
verdure of summer, and the hues of autumn, add their innu- 
merable changes, so that some of the pleasantest of the 
scenes may be said to be hardly the same in appearance at 
any two visits. The trees of the groves, which are thinly 
scattered over the lower levels, are generally of various de- 
ciduous species, and afford a rich intermixture of hues in 
autumn ; thus the early frosts often tinge the course of the 
stream with yellow and red, while the uplands are still 
covered with deep green. The young crops, presenting 
their countless rows over the level surface of the meadows 
in the sloping light, offered me one of the richest scenes of 
the kind I ever witnessed, as I pursued my way alone to- 
wards Deerfield. 

To one familiar with the history of this part of the coun- 
try, the journey up Connecticut River is doubly interesting ; 
and, during my short stay at Deerfield, I was more occupied 
with recollections of the past than elsewhere. This is one 
of the old settlements, though but of the second epoch, and 
retains more traditions of early events than any other I am 
acquainted with. When the English from Massachusetts Bay 
occupied Saybrook Fort, at the mouth of the river, in 1635, 
and began the settlement of Wethersfield, Hartford, and 
Windsor, in the following years, little was known of the 
stream above, except that the Indians reported that they used 
it in their canoe navigation to Canada, by making a portage 
between Onion River and the waters of Lake Champlain. 
Northampton, Hadley, and Greenfield were early settled ; 
and in 1666 were greatly harassed by the Indians in 
Philip's war. In the meadow, which I passed through 
in approaching this pleasant village, ambushes have been 
repeatedly laid by the wily enemy in former times, desperate 
contests have occurred, and not a little blood has been shed. 
At a visit to the place several years ago, I examined the old 
house, the only one which now remains of those erected at 
the first settlement, or previously to 1704 ; the others, ex- 
cept one besides, having been taken and burnt. The inhabit- 
ants of this house defended it a long time, until the savages 



INDIAN BATTLE. 127 

found entrance through the back door, which was left un- 
fastened by a neighbour's son, a boy, who having slept in 
the house on some account, took an opportunity to leave it 
in the midst of the fight, hoping to find his parents. The 
hole cut through the front door by the Indians with their 
tomahawks is still to be seen, as well as some of the holes 
made by bullets which they fired into the rooms on the 
right and left at hazard. One of these passed through the 
neck of a female, and killed her as she was sitting in her 
bed. 

The uplands rise abruptly on the east, fiom the beautiful 
second level on which the village is built. Three or four 
springs, which have trickled for ages down the steep de- 
scent, appear to have cut as many deep channels, at nearly 
equal distances, in the face of the hill. Several projections 
are thus left, which from some points of view appear like 
isolated eminences. One of these, called the Mohawk 
Fort, I ascended with an esteemed friend from the village, 
who pointed out many spots which had interest in my eyes 
from their connexion with early events. From him I also 
learned, that the spot on which we stood is reported to have 
derived its name from having been occupied, at an uncertain 
date, by the Mohawks, who are known to have made great 
encroachments on the Indians of Connecticut River. 

From Deerfield I pursued the road to Turner's Falls, on 
the Connecticut, the scene of the final overthrow of King 
Philip's power. The river comes sweeping slowly round a 
point, wiih a tranquil surface, and passing at the base of 
a round hill of sand, with a narrow swamp on two sides, 
seems to one descending its current to flow on without in- 
terruption to a long mountainous range, which here presents 
itself running north and south. At a quarter of a mile be- 
low, however, it makes a perpendicular descent of about 
forty feet, down which, before the dam was erected for the 
supply of a canal of a few miles, any thing approaching 
heedlessly went to certain destruction. The sand-hill was 
the camp or fort of Philip's Indians after they had been 
driven from the old settlements on the coast ; and during a 
night of feasting, they were surprised by a small body of 



128 ROUTE UP CONNECTICUT RIVER. 

volunteers from the towns, principally from NorthamptoHj 
and many of them destroyed. Great numbers, jumping into 
their canoes without their paddles, went over the falls. 
Some of the assailants, however, were killed, principally in 
the retreat, during which they were hard pressed by the 
rallying savages. The bones of a man were found a few 
years ago, in a secluded spot among the rocks below the 
falls, with the remains of a musket, and a number of silver 
coins of a period not later than the date of this battle ; were 
doubtless the remains of some soldier engaged in it. 

Having crossed the ferry to the foot of the hill, I ex- 
amined the situation of the fort, deserted so long, picked 
up a few arrow-heads of stone, and bones, took many fine 
glimpses and several sketches near the falls, and mounting 
my horse, proceeded by an unfrequented route to Bernards- 
ton, where I proposed to spend the night. The landlord 
seemed obliging ; and while my horse was receiving the at- 
tentions of his boy, I took my seat by a fire. 1 had just 
begun to feel impatient at not seeing any preparations 
making for my tea-table, when he came to invite me into an 
interior room, if I chose to sit by the family fireside. I 
cheerfully assented, and spent the remainder of the evening 
(for it was late when I arrived) in a neat little apartment, 
in pleasant conversation. 

Some of the older inhabitants of this part of the country 
have a little knowledge of the early condition of the coun- 
try; though the changes have been so great, and so many 
generations have dwelt here in undisturbed security, that it 
is difficult to imagine what were the trials and difficulties 
of early times. 

•' Our meadows now are cheerful all) 
Our rivers flow in light : 
But cedars wav'd their branches tall 
As round her clos'd the night. 

" The path which seeks the lovM abode 
You knew in childhood sweet, 
Perchance, was that the captive trod, 
Mark'd by the panther's feet." 



129 



CHA.PTER XVII. 

Copies of ancient Letters, illustrating something of the State of 
Things in this part of the Country early in the last Century. 

I HAVE in my possession some old papers, from a family 
long resident in one of the older settlements on Connecticut 
River, which afford lively evidences of the state of the coun- 
try, and circumstances of society, at different periods during 
the past hundred years and more. A few extracts will here 
be given, for the gratification of such as may feel any interest 
in matters of this kind. Our ancestors early made up their 
minds on certain important subjects, and went immediately 
and seriously to work. Tiiey did not satisfy themselves 
with talkmg philosophically, or forming theoretical cobwebs, 
as so many European writers have done, merely for the 
amusement of a pleasant day. Instead of waiting till the 
nineteenth century, to ask whether the times, or the spirit 
of the age, or the march of mind, as the fashionable phrases 
are, did not demand the instruction of all classes, they be- 
gan before the middle of the seventeenth, to require it by 
law. And what has been the result ? While, in the south 
of Europe, ignorance is teaching at this day that knowledge 
is the highway to vice ; the poorest inhabitant of this part 
of the Union has the noble blood of knowledge in his veins, 
and can trace it through a line of ancestors uninterrupted 
for one or two centuries. With this come the habits of 
conduct and of thought, which are cherished and cultivated 
by the influences of a virtuous and intelligent society ; and 
hence arise those valuable traits of character which are 
commonly attributed to this people : traits which cannot be 
looked for under other circumstances, and which cannot be 
produced by other causes. 

First comes a plan of a fort, which was ordered to be 

12 



130 ROUTE UP CONNECTICUT RIVJiR. 

built on the river's bank, with the following directions, ac» 
companied with a letter dated — 

" The figure of the fort to be built in the Long Meadow, 
above Northfield, together with the inner building. 

" The box a to be placed eastwardly over the river bank ; 
the passage into the mounts to be from the lower rooms, 
through the floor of the mount, except that at the norwest 
angle to be from the chamber through the side of the mount. 
The eastwardly box to be elevated so as to see from thence 
over the others. The timbers to be bullet proof. The 
fort to be twelve or fourteen feet high. The timber to lay 
the chamber-floor on to be so high that a tall man may walk 
upright under them. The buildings within twelve or four- 
teen foot wide. 

" The inner wall, as well as the fort and mounts, to be 
made of hewed timber. The housing to be built linto-wise ; 
the roof descending from the top of the fort. The outward 
parts of the mounts to be supported by limbers, laid four or 
five feet beyond the corness of the fort, not to be cut at the 
laying. The lower timber to be heightened by a short 
piece, and the floor of the mounts to be level with the 
highest timber. The end of the floor-pieces to go under the 
mount pieces. It will be best to fell the timber in the old 
of the moon. One of the first services will be to cut and 
dry good timber for fire-wood." 

Capt. 



" We have sent Henrick and three men and two squas. 

"The three men's names are Eraza, Cossaump, and 
Joseph, whome you must take into the fort, and release of 
the English soldiery four of your Englishmen, viz. John 
King to be one of the three men most inefiective, exceept 
the hired men, as I wrote to you in my former letter — and 
them you release must leave their guns for to suppl)'^ the 
Indians, and we shall see them returned, or a reasonable 
price for them. And King must leave his gun as others do 
upon the same terms. This you must be carefull to take, 
and keep an exact account of the day of their release, and 
©f the entry of the Indians, and so of more Indians that 



OLD LETTERS. 131 

may come ; and be verry careful! that the Indians be by 
themselves, and the English alsoe ; that there be no talking 
and tradeing betwixt the English souldiers and the Indians 
to royle one another and make a disturbance amongst them 
in the fort nor out of it, but all to keep their places, and be 
still and orderly ; the Indians by persuasion, and the Eng- 
lish by comand. I wish you good success, and be verry 
prudent in all your management. Yours." 

The following letter was written, as it would appear, in 
haste, by the commander of the fort, in the winter succeed- 
ing its erection. It is inserted here to show that the views 
entertained by many in this country in favour of the en- 
couragement of manufactures are not all of modern date. 
No doubt it will amuse some of my readers to find such 
suggestions thrown out more than a century ago, by an 
officer in garrison, in a small frontier outpost, while appre- 
hending attacks from Indians, and merely, as it would 
seem, to occupy a little leisure in the dead of winter. 

Fort ******, Jan. 9, 1724-5. 
" Sir, 

" You some time since enquired of me whether I had ever 
spent any tho'ts upon the circumstances of our gov*mt re- 
specting their medium of trade (viz.) how they might be 
restored to their original ; and I shouhl esteem it a risque 
to show myself to you on that weighty point, were it not 
for your undoubted candour to all. 

" And my opinion is, that as much as possible to avoid 
the emitting such vast quantities of bills would be a very 
likely expedient; and to prevent that I would propose that 
the tax on all imported liquors should be double what it is 
now, and on all other imported goods (that we may be suf- 
fered to lay a tax upon) in that proportion. The advantages 
I propose are 

" 1. All the money we get this way will help to bear the 
charge of the governm't, and that by the persons most able 
to bear it ; for it is they that drink and wear those imported 
goods that draw all the effects of this country. And 2^ 



132 ROUTE UP CONNECTICUT RIVER. 

This would tend to suppress the import and also the extrava- 
gance and use of such commodities. And 3. This would 
tend to promote and encourage tliose manufactories which 
would produce the most needful commodities among our- 
selves. Our governm't I know have done considerable to 
encourage the raising of hemp, the makeing of duck, good 
linnen-cloth, &c. And if they had at the same time oblig'd 
such commodities and many others to pay custom (when 
imported) that do not, it would have done well. This would 
not only help to pay our charge, but it would also greatly 
encourage the making of such things in this country — for 
what is made here as good as that which is imported would 
command as much as that, when the merch't has paid the 
duty and advanced his 350 p. cent, upon it. And most cer- 
tainly when any commodity is under such circumstances 
that two men and a gove'mt get in their several capacities 
a living by it, another man yt. can procure the same com- 
modity without the two lattr. encumbrances must be greatly 
inclined to do it. 

" If your patience lasts, I would entertain you with one 
blunder more, which is — I should think it very proper, 
when the charge is so great, that the country tax should be 
in proportion ; this has been omitted so long that I think it 
high time to begin ; for this also would greatly tend to pre- 
vent the passing of such vast quantities of bills among us, 
which are now (I suppose purely by their multiplicity) be- 
come but just half so good as our former mony. It's very 
strange if the wages of such as go to warr can't be so pro- 
portioned to other mens' advantages as that 20, 30, or possi- 
bly the proportion may be 60 or 100 that stay at home can't 
maintain one to go to warr and pay him down. I am sen- 
sible it would be dangerous at once to make an act that 
should be so extensive as to make it appear by what time 
the whole of the bills now extant should be brought in, for 
by that, rich foreseeing men will monopolize their coffers 
full, and thereby extort upon poor people that must pay 
their rates. Therefore, let us now begin to pay every year's 
tax within the year, and involve ourselves no farther, for 
we have as many bills out now as all the country can find 



OLD LETTERS. 133 

out liow to call in and not ruin a considerable part of the 
people. 

" When bills were first made, it should have been so or- 
dered that yy should always have been equal to silver, or it 
should be enacted yt any public tax whatsoever might be 
discharg'd by any of the country produce at reasonable rates 
or prices. I know it is objected that this is to make every 
salary-man a merchant, which is very much beside their 
proper business ; but there is not one salary-man in this 
country, but by himself or others does much more than to 
dispose of his salary when paid in such things, besides the 
business of his office ; and besides, I think, that man is 
more likely to be a trader who has none of the necessaries 
of life, and must take mony and convert into them all, than 
he that has all those things and but little mony. 

" Sir, this is the effects of but one half day, and any man 
that knows me will say it's impossible it should be valuable,^ 
&c., &c." 

JLetter from a Lady, 

Boston, the 22d of Feb., 1753v ' 
" Dear M. 
" I received your obliging letter of the 18th instant this 
day, and have conformed myself to your words as well as I 
am able, though not so well as I shou'd be glad to, being 
closely confined to the limits of a chamber, where I have 
been almost three weeks confined by a severe fit of sick- 
ness, wliich brought me near to death. Through the won- 
derful forbearance of God, my life is lengthened yet farther,, 
my strength recovering, and my opportunity for doing and 
receiving good yet prolonged. But, alas ! I remain insen- 
sible of my privileges, ungrateful for mercies, unhumbled 
under aflHictions, negligent of my duty ! I find 'tis not in 
the power of Providence, 'tis not in that of the Word, to 
break and melt the heart : nothing but a divine energy can 
accomplish a divine work. It appears to me that never a 
person had more means used with them to bring them 
home to God than I have had, but how little do I answer 



134 ROUTE UP CONNECTICIiT RIVER. 

the just expectations of God and men ! Surely you will be 
constrained to pour out your soul before God in my behalf. 

'* I am sorry you should think it wouM be a trouble to 
procure the few things you sent for — so far from it, I ac- 
count it a pleasure ; and think myself more obliged to you 
for employing me than you are to me for sending them. 
The respect you show to the memory of my dear and 
never-to-be-forgotten sister, I return my grateful thanks for. 
The removal of so great a part of my happiness renders 
this world more troublesome, and the remaining comforts 
of life more insipid. I have been more composed since my 

dear Mrs. was here than before — her company was 

of singular use to me, as she is now the most intimate friend 
I have on earth. I much question whether I shall ever see 
her again, as she has so many friends to visit, and I can see 
no prospect that I shall ever go so far from home. I have 
not heard from her since December, which seems an age. 

"The account you give of the burning of the Orphan 
House, I am apt to think, is a false report, as we have never 
heard a syllable of it ; and it looks most likely that we 
shou'd have heard of it by the post. 

" Nothing very remarkable occurs to ray mind at present. 
It is a time of general health. Pray when you see 
Miss , offer my respectful compliments to her. 

" Company coming in obliges me to close, with the offer 
of my service whenever you have occasion for it, with the 
assurance of my sincere wishes for your prosperity, and with 

my humble service to the good Col., his lady, Mrs. ^ 

and yourself, in which my mother joins (my father being 
absent). 

" I am. Dr. M , 



" Your most humble servant.' 



Pray favour me with a line 
as often as you ean. 



135 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



Erroneous Opinions of Foreigners of our Society — A great political 
Character — Sabbath School. 



It is not very surprising that foreigners have generally no 
correct ideas, or at least but very few, in relation to our 
country. Private and public concerns, past and present 
circumstances, so intermingle their influences, that a mere 
comprehension of the political system is quite insufficient to 
render the operations of society intelligible. Every thing 
seems at once free and dependent. Prices and opinions in 
one state affect those in a neighbouring one, and often, if 
not always, more or less, those of the Union. Every man 
is at liberty to speculate in the staple of any town or county, 
the houses and land, on equal terms with him who was born 
on the spot ; and may shoe or shave, feed or clothe the 
people of any neighbourhood from the height of land to the 
Gulf of Mexico, if they will consent to pay him. This 
causes a constant commotion on the routes, and quickens 
the circulation to fever haste. The people must stay at 
home, unless they know where they are going, and why ; 
hence intelligence is necessary. They travel because they 
know something, and they know more because they have 
travelled. And these causes, like many others constantly 
in operation, are continually increasing each other. 

But viewed in another light, each man has the peculiarities 
of his own state, county, and perhaps town, of which a fel- 
low-traveller may sometimes obtain some knowledge by 
directing his conversation that way. If you are acquainted 
with them already to some extent, he will amuse or instruct 
you. Favourable impressions of public intelligence, which 
perhaps had been raised in me by accidentally meeting 
several sensible men, were greatly thwarted by the man- 



136 ROUTE UP CONNECTICUT RIVER. 

ners and conversation of a person of a different character 
on his travels. 

There was a talkative young man in the stage-coach, 
who soon avowed himself, by word of mouth, as the editor 
of a village newspaper, called the Banner of Principle, or 
the Disinterested Patriot, or some other great name. His 
forward manners and flippant speech had got the start of 
this avowal, and already proclaimed him an uneducated, 
conceited youth, who had been exceedingly flattered some- 
where, by somebody, not very long ago, as an extraordinary 
wit. He was one of those persons whom to see is to pity, 
if you have any benevolence left after the suffierings you 
endure in his company. He had set out in life wrong, and 
was travelling rapidly a road which he must inevitably track 
back. He was living and breathing on mistake : neither 
he, nor the world, nor their opinion of him, nor his import- 
ance to them was such as he supposed. His pretended 
friends were attached only to themselves, and really exer- 
cised refined selfishness in enduring his society in order to 
gain the slight advantage of using him as a tool. 

He had the misfortune to live in the neighbourhood of 
an aspiring politician ; and having abundance of self-con- 
ceit, some smartness, and an acquaintance with the lower 
classes of society, he thought his apparent currency every- 
where was owing to his own talents. When, therefore, the 
editorship of a newspaper was ofi'ered to him, he supposed 
the station was but the meed of his merit ; and when I saw 
him he was already in full business on such slender capital. 
He had not the penetration to perceive,, nor the humility to 
suspect, any connexion between the friendly calls of Squire 
Undertow, his confidence in conversing with him on matter* 
of state, the prai&e of his first essays, and the whisper that 
he was the best man in the country to conduct a paper 
which the friends of principle were about to establish ; so 
he was soon set up, like a locomotive on a railroad, and ran 
rapidly and smoothly along the track which he was not per- 
mitted to leave, fancying that while he out-rumbled and out- 
smoked other machines of his class, he did all, and was 
reaping all the glory. He felt potent enough to distance 



A GREAT POLITICAL CHARACTER. 137 

every competitor, and despised the weak creatures which 
threw themselves in the way of his intolerable wit and 
deadly satire. He had formerly read the models of English 
writers with some pleasure, and attempted to arrange, with 
perspicuity, force, and harmony, words expressive of just 
and ennobling sentiments. But now he had learned that the 
age of improvement had come, and every thing old-fashioned 
was to be done away. Where would be the use of writing 
mere truth, when it would produce no effect? And as for 
language, his readers, and above all his patrons (tljat is to 
say, his payers and admirers), wished him to write with 
point and pith ; and he had already become a rival of the 
most popular editors in some of his paragraphs, as he had 
begun to excel some of the noisiest village politicians in 
slang. All the old rules of composition comprehended 
nothing that could equal, or that might not be found in the 
scope of one word — personality ; and his model of rhetoric 
and eloquence was the " saucy," but " successful" editor of 
the National Fulcrum or Lever — no matter which. 

" Our governor," said he, " is an honest kind of a man — 
one of the old-fashioned sort — too honest, I tell them, for 
these times ; and his friends think that they can succeed in 
his re-election, merely because he has done well, without 
using the means. The article I published last Thursday 
was meant to lull them asleep, and make them suppose that 
we were doing nothing to get him out. But we shall show 
them the next election. The oldest senator in the state 
won't like to see a new man in his place ; and the lower 
house will be all one side next session, like the handle of a 
jug. The present party, in our county, have got all the old- 
fashioned people with them, but we're likely to get the rail- 
road interest, because I say something every week about 
improvements ; and as we have taken Captain Bog-ore for 
a candidate, we shall be sure of the iron-founders in the 
valley. He's rather a hardware character, however, and 
the temperance people say they can't * swallow' him, con- 
sistently, because it would be drinking brandy; and he 
is all but ready to take the head of the anti-temperance so- 
ciety. That would kill us as dead as a door nail, if he 



138 ROUTE UP CONNECTICUT RIVER. 

should do it at present, for it's hard work to make ail 
sorts of our friends believe what we tell them. But, how- 
ever, Squire Sycophant says he's the only man that can 
manage the captain ; and as he'll probably be persuaded 
to be Speaker of the House this year, though he's the mos4 
modest man in the Union, I think we shall get along. Now 
all these difficulties an editor has to be provided against; 
and it requires a good deal of tact, I can tell you, to know 
exactly who to touch up, and who to let alone ; and when 
to call names, and how to tell a lie all but, and creep out when 
you are charged with it, and turn the laugh on the other side 
by giving them a rap over the knuckles. But things will 
be so in a free country like ours." 

" Ah !" said a sedate old gentleman, in the stage-coach, 
"you pay a high compliment to the spirit of popular 
government. The press, as I argue from your remarks, 
is rapidly rising in dignity and purity." 

" Why, yes, that is, it is improving in spirit and life, and 
it is waking up the people, at least in our section of coun- 
try, where there are men who never used to read who— 
now take my paper." 

The houses at which I spent the night had been duly 
furnished with the tracts for this month by the Tract So- 
ciety ; there was a Bible in my chamber, bearing an inscrip- 
tion to show that it had been presented by the Connecticut 
Bible Society to the hotel ; and among the newspapers in 
the reading-room was the last number of a Sabbath-school 
and a Temperance Journal. Here was new evidence that 
the spirit of beneficent association was in full operation 
around me, and turned my mind to consider the amount of 
its influence, annually, monthly, and daily, in the country at 
large. How a connexion with one of these societies tends 
to give a good direction to the heart, the head, the feet, and 
the hands ! When a movement has been made for the first 
time in a village, for the promotion of any such object, by 
measures never attempted there before, benevolence, activity, 
independence, and perseverance are often necessary, in a 
considerable degree, to secure success. It is the nature oi 
every virtue, as well as of the intellect, to gain strength by 



SABBATH-SCHOOLS. 139 

its own exertions, as well as to incite spectators to aim at 
similar objects, and to use similar means. Thus it is that 
every city, village, and hamlet in our country, where there 
is a Bible-society or a Sabbath-school, may in some sense 
be said to have had its Owen and its Raikes. But the sup- 
port of such societies, and the continuance of their opera- 
tions, sometimes require greater exertion than their founda- 
tion ; and hence we often find individuals, among the most 
busy manufacturers and merchants, on whom ihe whole 
labour of some societies, and not always the least efficient 
of them, depends. In such persons we often find more 
practical skill and knowledge in relation to the objects of 
their philanthropic pursuit, than in the whole community 
around them. If they find little support or encouragement 
in their own circle, they seek them in a broader sphere, 
and regard themselves as connected with an extensive 
system of beneficence, by which their minds and hearts be- 
come habitually expanded, and their characters acquire an 
elevation and a force which, perhaps, no other course of 
training could confer. 

And how interesting is this subject in another view. 
When a youth is connected with an association of this kind, 
he feels that he is bound to an upright and virtuous course 
of conduct, and that any deviation from it will be observed 
and disapproved. He finds his associates also afl^ected by 
similar influences, and the whole tone of society purified 
and refined. At the same time similar pursuits, and the dis- 
interested source from which they spring, establish fraternal 
feehngs as well as mutual respect among the youth of both 
sexes, which often prevail over all diflferences in profession, 
station, family, and property. Individuals also take rank 
according to their characters, zeal, and ability; and each 
society presents a kind of little republic, in which votes are 
not purchased, and offices are unpaid. 

And in this manner not only is the character of the young 
hedged in from many exposures, but means are aflbrded for 
takujg with them, wherever they go, the respectable standing 
they enjoy at home. A Sabbath-school teacher carries a 
recommendation with him to whatever place he visits, often 



140 ROUTE UP CONNECTICUT RIVER. 

of greater value than any letter of introduction. He cannot 
feign a claim to the name, for nothing but habit can familiar- 
ize him with the operations of a Sabbath-school sufficiently 
to converse intelligently on the subject ; and many a little 
Shibboleth would be detected in any one who might attempt 
to pass for what he was not. 

I was once led to reflect on the security which the Sab- 
bath-school often gives to strangers, in forming opinions of 
each other, and exercising mutual confidence, by having 
entered one myself, where I was received as a fellow- 
labourer, unknown, and yet well known. Seeing a stranger 
enter and silently seat himself, one of the teachers immedi- 
ately directed the attention of the superintendent to me, who 
advanced with a respectful bow, cordially gave me his hand, 
and invited me to walk with him round the school. I felt 
that this was all in order ; and penetrated his heart, because 
I had/often been placed in his situation, and acted exactly 
as he had done and intended to do. I saw that he took me 
for a teacher from some distant town, but received me only 
in the more general character of a friend of morals and in- 
telligence, which I had professed by the fact of entering his 
door. His doubts were to be settled, while his first duties 
of courtesy were performing during our circuit among the 
classes. Some of his remarks on the course of studies 
naturally led me to replies, from which he plainly inferred 
my familiarity with Sabbath-schools ; and were followed by 
inquiries concerning my own experience on certain points 
in which he had found difficulty. Thus the fact of my 
being a brother-teacher was satisfactorily established. He 
then apologized for the vacancy of several seats, by stating 
that he had recently formed the school, at the wish of the 
different churches in the vicinity, and received teachers as 
well as pupils from several congregations of diflferent sects, 
with such recruits as had been drawn from the manufactories 
on one side and the farm-houses on the other. Without 
any knowledge of his sect, or a single attempt to ascertain 
it, he respectfully requested another stranger to make an 
address to the school, when it should close, to which he 
consented. Seeing a class of children without a teacher, 



THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE. 141 

who had come from some of the poorest dwellings in the 
neighbourhood, I volunteered to instruct them, and was 
soon seated* with the Question Book of the A.merican Sun- 
day-school Union and the New Testament open in my 
hands, at the lesson for the day. When the hour had 
elapsed and the speaker rose, I surveyed the assembly with 
the reflection that hundreds of thousands of children were 
thus assembled in the country for similar objects, under the 
instruction of tens of thousands of teachers. 

Such reflections are impressed upon the mind more deeply 
by solitude and agreeable scenery; and nowhere more than 
on the banks of the Connecticut does nature, animate and 
inanimate, under a pure summer sky, appear in unison with 
the Christian's Sabbath. 

It is easy to perceive something of the extensive and 
powerful influence which such associations are exerting 
upon the minds and hearts, the manners and habits of my 
countrymen, as well as the importance of having such im- 
provements introduced into the system as might render it 
more perfect and efiectual. Such gratifying interviews may 
be enjoyed every week. We may part, perhaps, even 
ignorant of each other's names ; but with such feelings as 
those of Bunyan's friends, who " went on rejoicing, and I 
saw them no more." Such a morning exercise gives warmth 
and elevation to the devotions of the day. 

Much as the scenery of the Connecticut is admired, a 
great deal of enjoyment is often lost by not having the ad- 
vantage of the most favourable light to see it in. The broad 
and level meadows, with all their fertility, and the swelling 
hills and woody blufi's which by turns interrupt them, often 
appear tame and uninteresting when the sun is in the 
zenith ; but when near the morning or the evening horizon, 
it enhances the richness of one, and shows all the variety 
of the latter. 

The time has not yet arrived when the beauties of na- 
ture are to become objects of general attention and study 
to all classes ; but we should labour to hasten it, for our 
own land abounds in them most richly, and the humblest 
scene can furnish real pleasure to the eye which intelligently 

13 



142 ROUTE TJP CONNECTICUT RIV£R, 

observes it^ and may assist in raising the heart to objects 
far above itself. " I have inquired of many plain people of 
good sense," remarked a highly-intelligent and ingenious 
gentleman, " to ascertain whether there exists among our 
yeomanry any distinct conceptions ofbeauty in the objects of 
nature ; and I fear they too generally look with interest on 
a fine walnut^ree, merely because they associate with its 
size its greater value for fuel." And as for hills and streams, 
he was apprehensive that the first are regarded only on ac- 
count of the wood or stone they afford, and the other as 
they contain fish. Certain it is, that while we all possess 
feelings which sublime and beautiful objects must move, and 
fashion begins to incline many to talk of scenery around us, 
as it formerly forbade us to praise any thing American, there 
is a great, an almost universal inattention to the true prin- 
ciples of taste among our countrymen, which proper means 
might correct. 

We have sufficient native talent around us to furnish pic- 
tures whenever they shall be demanded by public taste, and 
paid for ; while for scenes, we are abundantly supplied with 
them, both for landscape and historical painting. When 
fashion shall once have turned, I expect to see a strong" 
current setting in favour of the ornamental arts ; and I think 
the great and various changes we have heretofore seen in 
society, warrant us in the hope that something important is 
yet in reserve for us on a matter connected with so much 
that is truly refining. Let our artists, therefore, raise their 
dejected eyes, and continue to employ their leisure hours in 
the creations of their rich fancies, or the portraiture of richer 
nature, believing that the time will come when their produc- 
tions will be appreciated, and exert their influence upon 
society. 

Such reflections as these, and many more, were excited 
by a visit I made not long since to a young artist, who has 
devoted such moments as he could spare from a variety of 
other employments to the study and practice of painting. 
He has refused, wisely perhaps, to trust to an art so pre-- 
carious for the supply of his bread, but has mac?e consider- 
able progress in drawing, colouring, lighta and shades^ in 



BATH. 143 

his leisure, at least enough to gratify friends and please him- 
self. And are there no means by which the attention of 
many youths may be turned in a similar channel, and a por- 
tion of their leisure rendered useful as well as gratifying 
to others ? If one had a friend at his side interested in the 
same object, and painting with him an hour or two daily, 
he would improve more rapidly than alone ; and if their 
number were increased, the benefit to each individual 
would become proportionally greater. Now let it be sup- 
posed that drawing from nature and painting should occupy 
the attention of a few persons in every village, and employ 
the time now spent in frivolous reading, idling at corners, 
listlessness and vacuity, or even a tenth part of that time : 
would not a taste be cultivated, a knowledge gained, which 
might lead to a more just estimate of the art and a higher ap- 
preciation of our leading artists ? Would they not naturally 
be better rewarded and more highly encouraged, and the 
public benefited by turning a little attention to the instruc- 
tions which the canvass can give ? 

Again passing over many miles and pleasant villages, and 
admiring without praising the fine farms and hardy people of 
YermonS and New-Hampshire, I approach the White Hills, 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Approach to the White Hills — Bath — Reflections on Society — The 
Wild Ammonoosue — Breton Woods — Crawford's — Scenery. 

Bath appeared very pleasant to me, for the same 
reasons that places where travellers find welcome repose 
at night generally are so : and beside the comfortable ac- 
commodations which the tavern afforded me, I had the ad- 
vantage of seeing the place under the sloping beams of both 
the setting and the rising sun, which are so favourable to 
the picturesque features even of the tamest landscape. The 



144 THE WHITE HILLS. 

village is small, but neat, and had two or three very pretty 
houses standing back from the street, in the midst of grass 
and trees, beside a due proportion of shade and open field 
on every side. Here are two smooth and fertile levels, as 
regular as artificial terraces, rising from the bank of Con- 
necticut River ; and every thing around me retained an aspect 
appropriate to that stream, though its diminished breadth 
and the wild uplands gave me the painful recollection that 
here I was to change my route, and penetrate into a more 
savage and inhospitable region. 

As I bade a temporary adieu to my native stream in the 
morning, and while my horse was taking due heed to his 
feet up a rough and stony hill, my thoughts pursued its cur- 
rent downwards, through the region I had just been travel- 
ling over. How different were my feelings on leaving the 
Thames, the Seine, the Rhine, the Arno, and the Tiber ! 
I had found nothing there which satisfied the heart like a 
social or family circle, and the state of society which sur- 
rounds us in our own land. 

Although no gaudy show of wealth had here in any form 
been presented to my eyes, I had nothing to regret in the 
absence of such palaces or equipages as are so much ad- 
mired by many travelled wits, and occupy so many of the 
books of tourists. My mind had been agreeably occupied 
with reflections on the nature and tendency of such a state 
of society as there exists, the simple causes which had pro- 
duced such desirable eflects, and the measures by which 
they may be rendered productive of many more. If certain 
enlightened philanthropists of Europe whom I might name 
but possessed the facilities we enjoy for contributing to the 
benefit of mankind ; if they were among men and circum- 
stances like these, the results of two centuries practical 
operation of free and universal education, under a govern- 
ment owing its existence and all its prospects to the 
propagation of knowledge and the diffusion of virtue, with 
what zeal, with what hope, with what success would they 
labour ! If I could see those enthusiastic friends of knowledge 
in France, who have just erected that new and splendid 
fabric, the national system of public education for the king- 



WILD SCENERt" 145 

60m, introduced to an intimate acquaintance with this state 
of society, and enabled to apprehend the causes which have 
produced it, and the objects at which it tends, I am sure I 
should witness the expression of feelings which they had 
never experienced before. If the philanthropic Douglass 
were pitched among such people as these, how much more 
ready and capable would he find them to be influenced by 
him, and to render him support and assistance, as well as 
instruction, for the accomplishment of his designs, which are 
too pure and lofty for the greater part of Europe in its present 
condition. How much is it to be regretted, that while some 
of the best men in the Old World are charged with being 
too much in advance of things around them, ours should 
remain to such an extent behind the — tide ! 

The traveller does not realize his approach to the White 
Mountains until he turns off to follow the course of the 
Wild Ammonoosuc. If he is alone, as I was, he will find 
his feelings deeply impressed by the gloom of the over- 
shadowing forest trees, the occasional sight of rugged and 
rocky eminences, and the noise of the rushing stream. I 
do not know another which so well deserves the epithet of 
Wild. The bed is strewn with sharp and misshapen rocks ; 
the banks show marks of frequent and fearful inundations ; 
and many of the trees have been stripped of their bark to a 
great height from the ground. It seems as if arrangements 
had been purposely made to give you a set-lecture on 
geology, in the laboratory of nature ; and you feel an appre- 
hension that it is to be attended with detonating experi- 
ments. One of the unpleasant accomplishments of regular 
scientific instruction I had to endure ; and would recommend 
to my successors to put, at least, a dry cracker or two into 
their pockets. So far from there being any human habitations 
in this part of the journey, there are not even berries enough 
to attract the bears ; indeed, there is nothing to be found 
but the bare sublime . Whoever seeks any thing else had 
better choose some other route. I could not but com- 
pare the savage traits of this region with the marks of re- 
finement I had noticed at an inn I had lately left. I had 
been accosted on my entrance by a genteel young woman, 

13* 



146 THE WHITE HILLS. 

who, with a singular mixture of simple language, plain 
dress, self-respect, modesty, fluent, and appropriate expres- 
sion, asked my wishes ; and after a few questions and re- 
marks, which betrayed sense and knowledge, proceeded to 
assist in preparing my dinner. At the table, which she 
spread, she presided with unaffected ease and dignity, and 
made me almost forget an excellent meal by her more inter- 
esting conversation. She gave me a sketch of the win- 
ter-scenery in this inhospitable region, and showed that 
there was sufficient reason for bestowing the epithet wild 
upon the Ammonoosuc, which poured by within hearing of 
the house. After dinner, a little library was thrown open 
to me, and I had a hundred or two well-selected and well- 
read volumes at my disposal, with a sofa, and solitude for a 
nap, all which I enjoyed. 

In all this I read the effects of a good private and public 
American education. The young mistress of the house had 
been taught at the academy of a village below ; and, what 
was of greater importance, had been trained up by a mother 
of no common character. Some persons would have said 
that she had been accustomed to good society; but, per- 
haps, that was not true in the usual sense of that word, 
though I doubt not that whatever society was around her 
was good in a better sense : that is, intelligent, simple, and 
virtuous. But what is generally intended by good society, 
is that of fashionable life, which is no more able to form 
such a character as we approve than the wild Ammonoosuc 
is to make a purling rivulet. To those who know our state 
of society, it will be sufficient to add, that the lady of whom 
I speak had been a teacher in the Sabbath-school before 
her marriage, and betrayed in her conversation an acquaint- 
ance with some of those other great systems of benevolence 
which so much interest, excite, and bind together the Prot- 
estant church, while they enlarge the views of individuals, 
and give a powerful direction to the public mind. 

As I proceeded, savage life seemed more and more to 
thicken around me ; and after I had become weary of look- 
ing for another habitation among the lofty hemlocks, trailing 
with tufts and streamers of moss, I began to reflect again 



THE REFINEMENT OF SOCIETY. 147 

on the civilization I had left. If intelligence, thought I, is 
found in the Scotch and Swiss mountains, where is there 
any excuse for its not penetrating the remotest regions of 
the United States, where population exists 1 What is the 
origin and nature of our refinement, and how can it be ex- 
tended and perpetuated ? Who shall answer for us these 
questions ? Who shall tell us how we may best act on 
this important subject? Where is the man who has given 
it all the consideration it deserves ? Is there a habitation 
or a university which contains the individual ? If so, his 
thoughts should be known over the whole country ; he should 
preach to us all ; he should instruct the nation in their duties 
and their destiny. Certain it is, that if we would study the 
subject aright, we must divest our minds of foreign views, 
and think independently and for ourselves. 

I shall not easily forget the admiration excited among a 
party of distinguished travellers, a few summers since, by 
the manners of a young woman who attended them at 
supper, in a little country inn in Massachusetts. The 
friends, who were partly Spaniards and partly South Ameri- 
cans, were so much struck with her dignity and grace in 
discharging the humble duties assigned her by her parents, 
that they often made it the subject of conversation hundreds 
of miles distant. Yet they never seemed able to appreciate 
the state of things among which she had been educated, and 
were quite at a loss to account for the growth of such pol- 
ished manners in a state of entire non-intercourse with courts 
and even cities. To me it never was surprising that they 
admired the reality of what they had previously admired 
only in counterfeits ; and as I had some knowledge of the 
nature of the society to which they had been accustomed, 
as well as of that in which she had been bred, I saw how 
natural was their error, how unavoidable, in their circum- 
stances, their ignorance and doubt. 

As for good manners, that external sign of internal refine- 
ment, those of a genuine nature can never spring from a 
graft ; they are the fruit of a good heart and a sound head* 
Counterfeits may be fabricated, but it is an expense of ma- 
chinery often incalculable, and after all their baseness is 



148 THE WHITE HILLS. 

usually discoverable, at least by those who have any ac- 
quaintance with the pure metal. Master Rattlebrain, junior, 
is sent to a dancing-school by his half-fashionable half-seri- 
ous mother, not to learn to dance, not to waste time or 
money particularly, but to form his manners. This is con- 
sidered necessary in Paris ; and the Parisians are the politest 
people on the globe. This is a better reason than a certain 
sort of people generally admit in questions of moment ; and 
the youth is perhaps found a few years after improving his 
manners in the capital of fashion. A whirl of dressing, 
spurring, tandem, and, perhaps, four-in-hand succeeds, and 
in a few years you may write his epitaph, if you would 
tell the truth, " Here lies a victim of good-breeding — falsely 
so called." Ah, these juvenile frivolities lead to dissipations 
of the mind and heart, which the fond parent sees about as 
clearly as he does those of the morals and manners which 
too often succeed them when more removed from parental 
oversight. Yet this springs not from any inherent vice in 
the pleasing exercises, but more from the want of that sound 
domestic education and virtuous and sensible example, by 
which good manners should be implanted and cultivated. 

Parents who are easy and refined in their manners, need 
not have boorish children ; and if they give a son or daughter 
intelligence, and accustom him to talk sense, and to exercise 
kindness and to show respect to those around him, they need 
not fear that he will anywhere speak like a fool, or act with 
impropriety. 

My reflections on such subjects, however, were interrupted 
by the imposing wildness of the scenery around me ; and 
though I may, perhaps, have penetrated further into this 
matter, I will not longer trouble my readers with such re- 
marks. 

After a solitary ride of several hours through Breton 
Woods, along an avenue cut through the forest, with innu- 
merable tall trees rising on both sides, and almost covering 
me from the sky, I reached Rosebrook's house. In a world 
of silence and solitude, the human voice, form, and face are 
valued as much above their worth as they are often depre- 
ciated in the crowd of a city. I had got tired of loneliness, 
whether of myself or trees, I cannot tell — I believe of both ; 



ETHAN CRAWFORD'S. 149 

for I hailed a plain wooden-house, barn-yard, and cattle with 
real pleasure. I had an ofler of dining alone ; but, " No, I 
thank you," said I, " I have just been alone." — " Well, the 
men are just sitting down to dinner," said the hostess, " and 
several of the neighbours are here." — " Neighbours," said I, 
*' where do you find articles of that description ?" 

" A door was soon opened, and I found nearly a dozen 
men standing by the walls round a table, courteously wait- 
ing for the stranger to take his seat. They looked so rough 
in features, dress, and complexion, and were so tall and 
robust, that I felt as if they would hardly own common na- 
ture with a puny mortal like me. Over their heads were 
deers' horns with Old hats, and heads of flax hung upon 
them ; and there was an array of the coarsest and shag- 
giest garments, which intimated that we were hard by the 
regions of perpetual winter. But greater hilarity, more good- 
nature, good sense, and ready humour, I rarely witnessed 
among any dinner-circle of the size. They talked as 
familiarly of a friendly call on a neighbour six or eight miles 
deep in the forest, as if it were but a step across the street ; 
and as for wild turkeys, bears, 

" And such small deer, 
They'd been Tom's food for many a year." 

After having got half-way to Ethan A. Crawford's, that 
is three miles, I was suddenly apprized of a shower, which 
had approached without my being aware, on account of the 
restriction put upon my eyesight by the forest trees, which 
opened to my view only their countless and endless vistas* 
I therefore pressed on, and at length emerged into more open 
ground, where the wind blew strongly in my face, drove the 
rain with violence, and speedily wet me to the skin. I had 
now reached, as I afterward learned, the mouth of the pass 
through the mountains called the Notch, where the wind 
generally blows with considerable force, and always either 
north or south, as through a tunnel or a trumpet. As I was 
going at a gallop, with the storm driving hard against me, 
my horse suddenly sprung aside, in a manner which might 
have cost me a bone or two a week before, when I was less 



150 THE WHITE HILLS. 

accustomed to the saddle ; and I did not at first discover the 
cause. We were near the Ammonoosuc, here a small but 
headlong stream ; and the current was dashing down a ledge 
of rocks a little on the right. My ride was such as doubly 
to prepare me for the enjoyment of a shelter and society; 
but the beauty of Crawford's meadow, as the storm ceased, 
and the sun shone upon it through the breaking clouds, made 
me linger to enjoy the first scene of beauty in the White 
Mountains which is presented to the traveller on this route. 
A broad and level lawn now spread before me, covered with 
that rich green which the herbage here receives in the short 
but rapid summer ; and the solitary dwelling of the hardy 
mountaineer appeared, with a few cattle straying here and 
there. The whole was apparently shut out from the world 
by a wall of immense mountains in front and on either side, 
whose mantle of foliage extended nearly to their summits, 
but left several bald peaks spotted with snow, where the 
elevation forbade a leaf to put forth, or a root of the 
smallest herb to penetrate. This scene seemed so attract- 
ive, that I was constrained to inquire why there were not 
more inhabitants. The reply presented a sad reverse. For 
two months only out of the twelve are the mountains ac- 
cessible, so that few travellers visit the place for pleasure. 
The meadow, with all its beauty, will scarcely yield any 
thing in the short summer, so that grain must be obtained 
elsewhere ; and, in short, the place would probably have 
been abandoned long ago but for the winter traveUing, which 
makes the house the resort of many country people, with their 
loaded sleighs in going and returning from Portland and 
other places on the coast. The valley, an object of attrac- 
tion only during a few weeks, and a great thoroughfare but in 
the winter, has its alternations of liveliness and almost en- 
tire solitude, which are looked upon by the few inhabitants 
of the spot with great interest, and supply themes for many 
an entertaining tale of woodsmen and travellers, sleigh- 
drivers' adventures, and the habits and pranks of wild beasts. 
It was arranged that a party of travellers, assembled at 
the house, should set out at an early hour for the ascent 
of Mount Washington. 



161 



CHAPTER XX. 

liJxciirsion to Mount Washington — Walk through the Forest— The 
Camp — Ascent of the Mountain — View from the Summit — Th© 
Notch— Old Crawford's— Bartlet. 

Waking after a short but invigorating slumber, and recol- 
lecting where I was, I found by the splendour of the moon 
that the time had arrived for our departure. As we saw the 
tranquillity of the meadow and the majesty of the mountains, 
which seemed to have marched nearer to us in the silence and 
darkness of night, the impressions produced upon the feelings 
were of the most elevating nature. We were soon after 
buried in the forest, following our guide, who ascertained his 
course among the vines, brush, and fallen logs, by what 
seemed to us more like instinct than reason, in the absence 
as it appeared of every evidence furnished to the eye by ob- 
jects around. The cold dew soon drenched our garments 
wherever they were brushed by the foliage : but the active 
exercise it cost us to keep pace with him, repelled the chill- 
ing influence with a warm and agreeable glow. We were 
following up the wild valley through which the Ammonoosuc 
pursues its early course, like a favourite child among the 
lovely and secluded scenes of home, far from which its 
future life will bear it, to return no more. During the tre- 
mendous flood of 1826, this brook was suddenly swollen 
to a resistless torrent, and spreading over the valley, ploughed 
up its channel, overthrew tall trees, some of which are still 
left in heaps upon the ground, while others were borne by 
it into the Connecticut. 

We passed the little spot where our guide once stopped 
to await the rising of the moon to light him onward, and 
where he was waked by the steps of a bear, which had 
eome to eat the whortleberries growing around him. As we 



152 THE WHITE HILLS. 

were more rapidly ascending than we supposed all this time, 
our rapid gait gave us considerable fatigue ; and when we 
approached the little shelters, thatched with birch-bark, 
stuffed with green moss, and strewn with spruce branches, 
where we were to breakfast, we were much cheered at the 
prospect of repose. 

A roaring fire was soon kindled between the two wig- 
wams ; and, stretching ourselves upon the green and sloping 
couch which had been prepared for the weary, in the warmth 
of the blaze, and amid the delightful perfume of the ever- 
green leaves beneath us, we fell asleep. When we awoke, 
it was broad daylight, even in that valley, of such apparently 
immeasurable depth ; and after a hasty meal of dry bread 
and flitches of salt-meat, roasted in the flame, on forked 
sticks, with the best of all sauces and the highest spirits, 
we prepared for the most arduous part of our expedition, 
which now lay before us. Nature seemed rousing from her 
slumbers ; and in such a region motion and repose are 
alike sublime. Millions of tree-tops gently undulated in the 
rising breeze, and the ceaseless sound of the rushing brook 
was heard in the pauses of our conversation. Compared 
with the large trunks of the trees around, and especially 
with the enormous mountains, whose lofty society we were 
seeking, our huts, ourselves, and our worldly interests 
shrunk into insects' concerns. 

The ascent of Mount Washington is a very laborious 
task, although a great part of its elevation above the sea 
and of Connecticut River, is of course surmounted before 
arriving at its base. I was not prepared to find this noble 
eminence rising so abruptly as it does from the side on 
which we approached it. After leaving our resting-place a 
few yards, and entering a thicker shade of forest trees, we 
began a steep ascent, over a surface broken by roots, and 
occasionally by loose stones, which soon checked the ardour 
with which we commenced it. It was nearly as steep, I 
believe, as the side of the cone of Vesuvius, though not so 
smooth. How little do we think, in our towns and cities, 
in the midst of our indolent habits, of what the muscles are 
able to perform, or of the pleasure we may derive from their 



ASCENT OF MOUNT WASHINGTON. 153 

exercise. Three or four men were now toiling up this 
ascent. Over them the physicians had often bent, I dare 
say, cogitating" what names to give the forms of debility by 
which they had been stretched upon their beds, and what 
nauseous drug they should apply to expel once more the evil 
spirit of luxury. Now, like a vessel just from the graving 
beach, after setting up her shrouds and backstays, on they 
went, over stones and roots and every obstacle, apparently 
as insensible to fatigue as so many machines. 

No opening through the forest is afforded during the as- 
cent, by which a glimpse may be caught of the world beneath ; 
and it was long before we had any relief from the sight of 
close and leafy trees around and above us. The first 
change which we noticed was that in the species of the trees. 
This was instantaneous. We left, as it were with a single 
step, the deciduous forest, and entered a belt of tall firs, 
nearly equal in size and thickness. After walking among 
these for a few minutes, they became suddenly dimin- 
ished in size one-half or more, and speedily disap- 
peared entirely, leaving us exposed to the heat of an un- 
clouded sun. Our guide now cautioned us to look to pur 
steps ; but we did not fully appreciate the value of his warn- 
ing, until we had two or three times sunk with one foot into 
deep crevices between the loose rocks on which we were 
treading, concealed by thick evergreen bushes, which were 
now the only vegetable production remaining. Although 
these gradually became reduced in size, it was not until they 
had disappeared that we could walk with security. The 
surface had ere this become less steep, but the large size 
of the rocks, in many places, with their ragged points and 
edges, rendered the passage still arduous, and more slow 
than we could have desired. 

Before us rose a vast nodule, of an uniform gray colour, 
whose summit appeared at but a short distance ; but when 
we had reached the point, we found another swelling convex 
before us, and another beyond that ; so that, having exclaimed 
that the highest peak in the Union was, after all, not so very 
mighty a thing, we at last had to qualify the expression, and 

14 



154 THE WHITE HILLS. 

to say with respect, that Mount Washington had some claim 
to its name. Indeed, when we began to perceive that we 
were already above the inferior summits, named after several 
of the other Presidents, which had appeared so great from 
below and at a distance, we felt that we were in the region 
of real exaltation ; and although Washington was still above 
us, could look down upon Adams, Jefferson, Madison, 
Monroe, and what not. 

When we find a spot where man cannot exist, we want 
to see what can ; and I began to look round for any thing 
with legs. Black flies, of course, like volunteer jurymen, 
will not stay where the absence of mankindMoes not allow 
them to find employment. Nothing with life could I catch 
or see but one miserable black bug. 

One of the earliest accounts of the ascent of this noble 
eminence which I ever read represented, I recollect, that 
the summit was scattered with fragments of the limbs of 
pine or hemlock trees, bleached by long exposure, and re- 
sembling stags' horns. The comparison was a very apt 
one. These bits of wood have, no doubt, been carried up 
by some of the violent gusts of wind which are common in 
mountainous regions. A gentleman once described one 
"which he saw some years ago. A roaring was first 
heard, soon after the tops of the forest trees on the 
summit of the opposite mountain were bent violently down, 
and then many of their knarled branches were seen flying 
in the aif. The wood found on Mount Washington has 
proved convenient to visiters suffering with cold, as it will 
make an excellent fire. 

For ourselves, we suffered most from thirst ; and could 
hardly allow our eyes their expected feast upon the bound- 
less landscape, until we had demanded of our obliging guide 
to be conducted to the icy springs of which he had spoken. 
He soon brought us to a hole in the rocks, where, only three 
or four feet down, we saw a small bed of ice, which was 
slowly trickUng away in tears, under the indirect heat of 
the sun. We caught these pure drops, and found them a 
most refreshing draught* This was the highest head of the 



VIEW FROM MOUNT WASHINGTON. 155 

Aramonoosuc River which we could discover, and we had 
saved, at least, a portion of its intended current a rough 
and headlong descent down a dreary mountain. 

We had seen the landscape below several times beginning 
to reveal itself through the mist ; but now, when we had 
prepared ourselves to enjoy it, and taken our seats on the 
highest blocks of ragged granite between the Rocky Moun- 
tains, the Ocean, and the North Pole, we found it all concealed 
from our eyes. Clouds of gray mist and vapour began to 
drive by us, which moistened our garments, scarcely yet 
dry, and soon chilled us to an uncomfortable degree. Now 
and then acres, nay, cubic miles of clouds seemed suddenly 
to be rolled away from beneath us, leaving frightful gulfs 
thousands of feet down, yet bottomless ; and these in another 
moment would be filled with mist, heaped up higher 
than Mount Jefferson, Adams, Washington, and even our- 
selves, who were last enveloped again, and often concealed 
from each other's view. 

It now proved that we had chosen an unfavourable day 
for the ascent ; but we had occasional views, which did not, 
however, embrace the whole of the extensive panorama. 
"There's the lake! There's the lake! There's the 
lake !" exclaimed Crawford — " Quick, quick, look here !" 
— and there we saw a bright gleam towards the south, ap» 
pearing beyond a whole chaos of mountain peaks and moun- 
tain sides, gulfs, dens, and chasms. Winnipiseogee Lake 
had shone feebly out for a moment, between two clouds of 
vapour, each large enough to cover a whole State, and was 
but dimly and indefinitely revealed, with a large extent of 
the romantic country on this side of it. But distances were 
lost, or rather the eye and the mind seemed to be possessed 
of tenfold their usual compass and penetration ; and this, 
perhaps, was owing to a vast and bottomless abyss just be- 
fore us, overflowing with vapours like an immeasurable 
caldron sitting on a volcano, over which the sight and the 
thoughts had first to spring to survey the sudden scene, so 
suddenly withdrawn. While the eye rested upon the distant 
objects, it could net forget the fearful leap it had made, an4 



156 THE WHITE HILLS. 

the poor insect body it had left on the top of Mount Wash- 
ington. 

" Well, there, there, there it opens at last !" cried our 
guide once more ; and turning towards the north-eatstwe 
saw a vast extent of country, comparatively level, yet with 
its lines of fields and roads thrown into every variety of 
curve and angle, showing that the surface was very far from 
being most favourable either to the cultivation of the soil or 
the transportation of its fruits. " There's the Androscoggin; 
don't you see it shine like an eel along through that valley?" 
The bright course of a stream was seen dividing the dark 
surface of the earth, like the white trunk of a silver birch 
seen on the verge of a green wood, while its tributaries, less 
broad and less distinctly visible, gleamed like the branches. 
The mountain on that side descends a thousand feet or more 
perpendicularly, as abruptly as the Rock of Gibraltar where 
it looks on Spain ; and nothing can be more dangerous than 
to wander without great, caution, amid such mists as fre- 
quently surrounded us. Travellers have been occasionally 
exposed to great labours, and have sometimes suffered much 
from hunger and thirst as well as apprehension, by unad- 
visedly trusting to their own sagacity in visiting this place, 
often so difficult to find and to leave. A man, or even a 
party, might wander for hours round the sides of the moun- 
tain without discovering any clue to the proper paths, when 
the vapours intercept the view of every distant object ; and 
even if they should reach the bottom, they might wander in 
various directions in the forest below. 

Towards the west and north we had opportunities to con- 
template the scene at leisure, and began to feel familiar with 
the optical habits of hawks and eagles, by looking upon 
the world beneath from a sublime height in the air. On 
the horizon lay the Green Mountains. Distance and the 
contrast with nearer and more elevated peaks seemed to 
have diminished the whole range to a mere cornfield, or a 
garden-walk broken by mole-hills. The valley of the Am- 
monoosuc opened beautifully to view just below us ; and 
Crawford pointed out with interest his secluded dwelling in 



EFl^ECTS OP EXERCISE. 157 

tbe midst of the verdant meadow, invaded by few foreign 
cares, and solitary but for nature's society. Gleams of sun- 
shine and shadows of clouds by turns drew their different 
pencils over the beautiful picture, revealing more beauties 
and exciting more emotions than I could describe, or any- 
one but a spectator could fully enjoy. 

And all this of which I have been speaking, or rather all 
that of which I have been thinking while attempting to 
speak, all this came through the eye — the narrow window 
of the eye's pupil ! Creation ! A vast extent of the Al- 
mighty's handiwork ; tremendous mountains in extended 
chains, with the numberless minor hills that seemed to 
tremble in their presence ; valleys, plains, and rivers, fields, 
forests, and villages, all comprehended by a glance of the 
eye ! How diminutive a watch-tower is the human frame ; 
how minute is that telescope, yet how wonderful its power ; 
and what a sentinel must he be who stands within, the in- 
habitant of the fabric, the gazer through this glass, for whose 
delight and admiration this scene was spread abroad, for 
whose temporary use these bones and muscles were 
bound together, this curious instrument was so inimitably 
constructed, and for whom are reserved scenes unknown, 
far transcending all that he himself can yet imagine. 

A night of sweet sleep, like that of a child, erased the 
fatigues of that day. 

Having parted from my new friends, who were travelling 
in the opposite direction, and taken leave of the frank and 
hardy Ethan Crawford and his family, I mounted again my 
sorrel horse, after a separation from him of only one day, it 
is true, but which had been filled with so many feelings 
that I had a great deal to retrace in my mind to get 
again at the chain of thought where I had left him. He, 
however, seemed glad to claim acquaintance with me again; 
and I rode along the path 1 had yesterday passed with some 
fatigue on foot, reflecting on the nature of man which so 
strongly tends to consult luxury and ease, and the depress- 
ing influence they exercise upon body and mind. The mo- 
tion which the animal communicated to my frame was agree- 
able — leaving the walking muscles in a state of repose, and 



158 THE WHITE HILLS. 

jarring the whole system. The chest, braced by recent 
sleep following real fatigue, and by the breathing of pure 
mountain-air, felt prepared for harmony, like a harp 
fresh strung with wires of steel. The beauty of the morn- 
ing light on the sides of the mountains also exalted my feel- 
ings, and I could not refrain from a song of praise in accord- 
ance with the scene. 

^ I travelled four miles along a level road, winding through 
a dark forest, without meeting a living thing ; when I 
reached the Notch House, which stands solitary in the 
little Notch meadow. One would think the level a very 
low one, as the land is too flat to be well drained. The 
Ammonoosuc had been left a little behind, when I reached 
the Saco, a mere brook, which disappeared in front of 
me behind a rock. Thither the road led me ; and a 
sudden turn to the left brought me into the gate of these 
mountains, the famous Notch. The scene changed its 
aspect to wildness and sublimity, and the Saco, breaking its 
glassy surface into foam, set up a roar which it continued 
to make for thirty miles, when it reached the meadows of 
Conway. 

It would be pleasant to me to while away a week or two in 
these mountains, in the fancied society of a tasteful and indul- 
gent reader — one of those patient and forbearing beings 
whom I imagine myself talking to when I meet with any 
thing truly sublime and noble in my travels : but I know 
very well, when I coolly reflect, that it is presumption to 
suppose that others are of course pleased with what greatly 
delights myself; and, however unwillingly, must hasten 
through this gorge, and leave numberless objects untouched : 
many a thought and sentiment unexpressed. In going twelve 
miles, between the two Crawford houses, I lost four full 
hours of which I can give no account, unless by showing 
the drawings I made in my sketch-book, or deserving points 
of view whose details are impressed on my memory. Too 
thoughtless of time even to look at my watch, forgetful of 
food and rest, I rode and walked, and stopped and stood : the 
Saco roaring and rushing on one side, and Sorrel plodding 
along on the other, or gazing at me with the bridle on his 



JOURNEY TO BOSTON. 159 

neck. Poor faithful beast! He and I did not arrive at 
the intended place of rest till late in the afternoon, and had, 
I presume, the latest dinners eaten in New-Hampshire that 
day. 

Bartlet is a pleasant little village, in a circular meadow, 
eight miles below the elder Crawford's ; and not until I 
entered it did I feel as if there was any certainty of my ever 
recovering the exercise of the social feelings. How little do 
we realize, in the family-circle, the village, or the city, that 
we are dependent on the vicinity of others for a large part of 
our daily enjoyments ; how many gentle vibrations of our 
hearts are caused or increased by the movements of sympa- 
thetic chords around us ; and how, hke the spheres, we are 
bound to our places by a thousand mutual, though invisible, 
influences. If the savage feels at home in the forest, as 
much as we do at the sight of dwellings and cultivated fields ; 
if his warmest feelings are as strongly associated with the 
sounds and objects familiar in the wilds, as ours are with the 
lowing of cattle, the features and the voices of men, which is 
undoubtedly the case, who can wonder that only Christianity 
has been able to induce him to change his habits ? 

The days I spent on the borders of that most varied and 
beautiful lake, Winnipiseogee, as well as in approaching and 
leaving it, with the fish in its waters, the fowl on its shores, 
the deer in its groves, and the islands on its bosoms ; 
these and the scenes of contentment, activity, and thrift pre- 
sented along the Merrimack I must pass over in silence. 
It is lime we were at the great centre of all this eastern 
country : so, without waiting to learn how the luxuries of 
the soil find their way to the capital, or how its many fashions 
and other influences are sent back in return, — let us hasten 
to Boston. 



# 



160 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Boston — Environs — Literary Institutions — Mount Auburn — Remarks 
on our Intellectual Machinery. 

Boston is situated on ground favourable to the display of 
the city from almost every point in the vicinity. The sur- 
face rises towards the centre, at Beacon Hill, where the 
dome of the State House presents a conspicuous object. 
The acclivity at the same time exposes to view not 
a few of the larger edifices in different streets. The irre- 
gularity of surface, however, has its disadvantages ; and 
some of the streets are inconvenient and even dangerous in 
slippery seasons. The heart of the city defies the straighten- 
ing hand of improvement ; but the quays and the adjacent 
streets are of a size and regularity which our larger capitals 
might envy. The wharves, while they attest the natural 
defect of the harbour, bear honourable evidence to the taste 
and enterprise of the merchants ; and the market is the 
most splendid in the country. The fine white granite, 
which is used so much for columns in New- York, here 
forms the material of entire and elegant blocks ; and, what 
is of personal interest to travellers, Tremont House is un- 
equalled as a spacious and genteel hotel in the whole Union. 

The harbour makes a fine appearance from every emi- 
nence ; and the surrounding country, diversified with bold 
and swelling hills, populous villages, and elegant country- 
seats, offers attractions superior to the environs of any of 
our other cities. Indeed, no pleasanter or more varied tour 
of ten or fifteen miles could be easily desired than that 
which may be made, by hard and level roads, round the 
circuit of Charles River. On the eminences, Washington 
formed the line of troops with which he besieged Boston in 
1775. That end of the horseshoe which overlooks the city 



MOUNT AUBURN. 161 

from the north is surmornted by the monument of Bunker 
Hill ; while on that which commands the harbour from 
the south-east, viz. Dorchester Heights, is seen the wall of 
a circular fort. Hereabouts were some of the earliest settle- 
ments in New-England. 

In literary institutions Boston holds an elevated rank. 
Without speaking of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 
the Athenaeum, &c. <fec., Harvard College, which may be 
regarded almost as in the city itself, is the best endowed, 
though not now the most flourishing, institution in the Union. 
Why will not our wealthy countrymen in other States take 
fire at the noble example which has been set them by the 
Bostonians, in fostering learning ? The public-schools are 
probably superior on the whole to those of New-York ; and 
if so, of course to all others in the country. Writing, how- 
ever, is not taught as easily or as well as in New- York ; 
slates not being used for that purpose. The girls' and boys' 
schools, also, are separated, which must be attended with 
some inconveniences. The primary schools are vastly in- 
ferior, being under a distinct supervision, and controlled by 
a numerous and unmanageable body of men, most of whom 
can hardly be expected to keep pace with the improvements 
in that important department of public instruction. Here, 
therefore, you find the old-fashioned Ma'am schools — with 
the poor little children seated all over the room, without 
apparatus, exercises, singing, or any other humane and in- 
telligent device to render instruction or school-going tolera- 
ble. In Boston, however, is enjoyed the great advantage 
of a comparatively homogeneous population, and a strong 
prejudice in favour of education. What would the trustees of 
the New- York Pubhc-schools think would befall their books, 
if they should permit the children to take them home, as 
they do in Boston? Of the grammar-schools I have not 
leisure to speak in befitting terms of praise ; nor have I 
room to give vent to the regret I felt at some of the evi- 
dences I met of the perverted influence of fashion in some of 
the female schools. 

Mount Auburn has had the misfortune to be over-praised 
in print ; and the consequence is, I beUeve, that every visiter 



162 BOSTON. 

to it is disappointed. The spot is very pleasant ; nature has 
given it seclusion, vi^ith pretty sights of green hills and 
woods, which acquired for it the name of Goldsmith's village 
years ago. And nearly in the state of nature it still re- 
mains : the plan for its improvement having been as yet 
completed only on paper. There is nothing to impress the 
mind as you approach it with feelings appropriate to an ex- 
tensive cemetery. Walks and avenues have been planned, 
and little signs inform you that here among the bushes 
is Cypress avenue or Cedar-walk ; but in many places you 
have nothing else to lead you to suspect where you are. 
The visiters who go there for a ride, and leave their 
carriages or horses on the borders of the grounds, often in- 
terrupt the reflections which a sober mind would wish to 
indulge in on such a spot. The plan is far superior to that 
of the New-Haven burying-ground, where, as I have re- 
marked, there is a want of variety in surface and shrubbery, 
and little seclusion from observation. 

The example set by Boston, in forming such a cemetery, 
it is to be hoped may be imitated by many villages as well 
as cities. It is in several respects an improvement on the 
ancient New-England plan, though much more accommo- 
dated to it than to that of some other parts of the country 
and large towns in general. In cities, public and private 
tombs are used, and small and crowded burying-grounds, 
often at an expense which would procure interment at 
a distance in some retired scene ; but in the latter 
there is often less security, except strict precautions be 
taken. Cemeteries should be planned with reference to the 
living as well as the dead ; and should at once be conve- 
nient and pleasant to visiters, guarded from injury and every 
thing like disrespect. They ought not, I think, to be placed 
in the centre of a village, as they generally are, nor yet too 
far remote from the habitations of men. If they are con- 
stantly before the eye, they are regarded with too much in- 
difference, and the ground is often made a thoroughfare and 
even a place of sport by children. In some instances new 
and more retired situations have been chosen ; for there is 
no objection to separating the burying-ground from the 



NEWSPAPERS. 163 

church, with those who do not consecrate ground : but in 
how few instances is taste consulted in the selection of a 
spot, in laying it out, or planting it with evergreens ! — 

Newspapers are in some senses great pests. The old- 
fashioned literati complain bitterly that they occupy the 
places of books such as they used to read and grow wise with, 
and ask, What is it but newspapers which makes our young 
men different from what they used to be ? If they would 
listen to one of this class, so far from perfection as I allow, 
I would say, it is owing to many other causes besides this. 
So far as newspapers have an evil influence, it is attributable 
to their quality, not to the fact that they are newspapers ; and 
the evil of the bad is partly owing to our fathers' neglect in 
not providing good editors, nor taking timely precautions to 
secure a good public taste. The neglect under which news- 
papers so long suffered now appears to have been almost 
criminal : it was at least short-sighted : for if their present 
importance had been foreseen, and if proper measures had 
been taken, they would have been better, and sources of 
much more good and far less evil than now. 

But as for getting along without them, under the present 
and the probable future state of things, it is out of the ques- 
tion. Every man, at least in this part of the country, who 
has any regard for his character for common intelligence, or 
any curiosity or taste, or who has a wife, son, or daughter 
possessing these qualities, must have the affairs of the 
county. State, Union, and universe laid before him every 
week at least. And this is done for from one and a half to 
two and a half dollars a year. Multitudes obtain with this 
a vast amount of matter relating to doctrinal and practical 
religion, the movements of the clergy of their denomina- 
tions, the growth of churches, the operations of their Bible, 
tract, missionary, and temperance societies, &c. &c. 

But to go further into particulars — the public affairs of all 
nations, the effects of the enterprises of distinguished indi- 
viduals, the opinions of new books in both hemispheres. 
The people of this country exercise an habitual censorship 
over their fellow-men — many of them daily, multitudes of 
them weekly, as they seat themselves to peruse their news- 



164 BOSTON. 

papers ; and feel at the same time a degree of self-respect, 
as well as regard for good or wise men, however distant, 
who seem in some sense to be labouring in their various 
spheres partly for their gratification or improvement. When 
Humboldt was scouring plains and ascending mountains, 
in many an humble habitation was his progress watched ; 
and tow-wicked candles, lighted as the farmers' famihes 
assemble at evening, will show the columns which shall 
speak of Don Miguel's fall, and Captain Hall's adventures 
in his pursuit of Parry. 

It is a great consolation when we see the paltry and often 
the vicious stuff with which many of our public papers 
abound, that after all so small a portion of the community 
read it. What is professedly political has charms for but 
few, if we except such things as are personal in their 
bearing on individuals known to the readers. Marriages 
and deaths induce hundreds to take them up, where tens are 
attracted by what is called the original articles, most of 
which have as much originality as an echo. The most 
virulent, tasteless, and sottish papers are generally those 
which are supported by some party, and these are often 
taken for appearances, and not to read. 

The learned must consent to share in the burthen of the 
charge of the public ignorance and want of taste. They 
who are familiar with the state of things in Greece and 
Rome, and all other countries on the face of the earth, ought 
to have had skill to foresee that our circumstances, so differ- 
ent from those of any nation before us, must require a dif- 
ferent treatment to produce any desirable effect. They are 
a venerable set of men, I allow — highly respectable; some of 
them know law, some physic, some history, Hebrew, Latin, 
Greek, and what not. There are those who have waded 
deep into tlie most important branches of knowledge (I use 
branches in the southern sense), and are actually swimming 
in a surfeit of science, who, I fear, have not sufficiently 
thought how they may convey a few drops to their thirsty 
fellow-citizens. Is not the idea still too prevalent, that there 
is no way to learning except the royal road ? Is there not a 
tiresome long toll-bridge across that stream which separates 



NAHANT* 165 

til's land of ignorance from the domain of knowledge, over 
which all are required to pass, while none are permitted to 
use the humble stepping-stones or to attempt the ford be- 
low ? Cannot some means be devised by which some of 
the important principles, now wrapped in volumes and con- 
cealed in foreign words, may be put into the possession of 
those who most need them for frequent and practical use ? 
Have the Medes and Persians any law requiring every indi- 
vidual who would know how many bones there are in his 
foot, or what fiddle-string it is that vibrates when he knocks 
his elbow, to go through a regular course of study at a medi- 
cal college ? If they have, by the way, it is violated, and 
will be set at nought, I trust, still more, by the Penny Maga- 
zine, Penny Gazette, et omne id genus of publications which 
have begun to appear, I had almost said, since I began to pen 
this page. In these things the English have set us a good 
example ; which, as we are such " legitimates" in literary 
matters as to admit no improvements except through the 
royal road, there is now hope we shall benefit by it. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Nahant — Plymouth — Principles of the Pilgrims— Their Institutions- 
Excuse for not knowing more — Lyceums. 

Nahant is the first great fashionable retreat our coast 
presents, beginning to follow its devious line from the eastern 
part of the country. There many a citizen, many a young 
person educated in our fashionable schools, is for the first 
time introduced to the ocean, and taught, by a glance, how 
great are objects he knows not, how small many of the ac- 
quisitions the giddy world admires. I do firmly believe that 
a misguided parent, who has had the folly to bring up his 
child in the way he should not go ; who has taught his son 
or his daughter to admire the false glitter of wealth, and to 

15 



166 NAHANT. 

neglect the search after intellectual and moral enjoyments, 
— many such a parent, by bringing his child here, has ex- 
posed him to a scene that can counteract at once the very 
principles of his education, implant new ideas, lead him to 
think his parent superficial, and drive him to other sources 
of instruction. There is an appeal, a warning, a monitory 
voice in the sea, when its waves are dashed against the 
rocks, which affects the old and even the accustomed mind 
•with awe ; but to the young, the inexperienced, it addresses 
itself with a tone which enforces attention, and makes an 
impression no human power, perhaps, can ever entirely 
efface. 

" Unfall'n, religious, holy sea !" 

A scene like this is best calculated for the retreat of one 
"who has forsaken the paths of righteousness, and wishes to 
retrace his steps. Vice never chooses a place where such 
reproaches are sounded in her ears. It is also one of the 
most favourable situations for implanting salutary and last- 
ing impressions in the young. Scenes like this are, per- 
haps, liable to as few objections, even when strictly regarded, 
as any can be, for the establishment of houses of general 
resort : for as the objects of nature offer a good deal of at- 
traction, even to the less estimable class of visiters, they 
substitute reflections harmless, if not useful, for many of the 
unbecoming games and occupations in which hours are 
Usually occupied in public places. The man of business is 
not attracted to the billiard-table to fill up a blank left by 
his abstraction from his desk 5 but he seats himself on some 
of the resting-places arranged on the most advantageous 
points of view, and gazes in admiration on a horizon more 
extended, on objects more elevating than he finds elsewhere. 
He indulges in reflections ennobling to a mind borne down 
with daily cares, while he is refreshed by a pure and kindly 
breeze, that comes with health and rational hilarity on its 
wings, to repair the wastes that necessary labour has made 
upon his frame. 

Of the sea serpent 1 have nothing to say. 

Plymouth I visited with becoming reverence, on account 
of the memory of our forefathers. What a dreary scene 



THE PILGRIMS. 167 

must the coast have presented to them when they landed on 
this spot in December, 1620 ! The soil is sandy, thin, and 
poor, and a range of low hills gives an uniformity to the 
shore, to which nothing but some important historical event 
could have given interest. Along the Atlantic coast of the 
United States, from hereabouts down to Florida, vast tracts 
of sands are found, the marks of some tremendous opera- 
tion explicable only by reference to Noah's flood. Of this 
nature is the country here. The undulating surface-of light 
sand, intermingled with loose primitive rocks, stretches along 
the bay, while it also forms Cape Cod, on which the Pilgrims 
first effected a landing ; and Carver's Rock, on which tra- 
dition says they first stepped from their boat, is of granite. 
They saw none of the natives at first, because a fatal dis- 
ease had destroyed all the inhabitants for some distance 
round several years before. Old William Wood mentions, 
in his New-England's Prospect, printed in 1634, that Ragged 
Plain, a little in the interior, had become covered with bushes 
for the want of Indians to burn it over, as they had been 
accustomed to do, for game. 

I took my stand on the top of Burying Hill, near the 
grave of Carver, those of several of his associates in the 
first settlement of New-England, and of many of their de- 
scendants. On this spot they entrenched themselves im- 
mediately; at its base, on the south side, they formed their 
treaty with Massasoit ; between it and the shore on the east 
they erected their first dwellings along the present street of 
the village ; between the lofty blufis on the sides of the har- 
bour they used to watch for the expected arrival of ships 
from England ; northwardly they soon saw new colonies es- 
tablished ; and westward — what talents would be required to 
show the whole influence of their early labours and pure and 
wise institutions ! Where we can trace the operations of 
their principles among our countrymen, we find that we owe 
to them almost every thing we are and have and hope for. 

It was a simple question with them, after they had estab- 
lished themselves here, whether they should take this course 
or that — shall we observe the strict rules of morality and 
yeligion, and instruct our children in useful knowledge, or 



168 PLYMOUTH. 

not t They did not dispose of the question as the repire- 
sentatives of Pennsylvania did a few months since, when 
the bill for common schools in the state was before them. 
They did not decide that they were too poor to do it con- 
veniently, and therefore must postpone it. The Pilgrims 
were simple enough to believe that " learning is better than 
house and land," and therefore provided fur the establish- 
ment of a school in every town of fifty families, and a gram- 
mar-school in every one of 100 families. Let those who 
think them the poorer, cast up the figures by which it may 
be shown, and then follow the emigrants from New-England 
wherever they have gone, and see how they compare with 
those who represent different doctrines on the intellect. 

It is true that the Pilgrims enjoyed great advantages for 
laying the foundations of their society along with general 
education. They came well provided with knowledge, and 
had little expense to incur at the outset. Family instruc- 
tion was a powerful aid to schools ; and it is the want of 
this which renders necessary the array of means now re- 
quired to make up for deficiencies where it has been neg- 
lected. Knowledge may be transmitted from generation to 
generation, in the same manner and almost as cheaply as 
ignorance ; but what a difference is the consequence ! Sup- 
pose that the pilgrims had chosen to neglect the means ne- 
cessary to secure general instruction. Imagine the conse- 
quences. This country, instead of sending out so much of 
its population to all seas and regions, because they had 
superior intelligence, and can pursue the beasts of the 
forests, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, as well 
as commerce and various other kinds of business, with 
greater success than other, men, would probably have been 
visited by those of other nations for the same purpose, and 
ere this have been a much more mixed people. The great 
streams of teachers, of all classes, which are now poured 
out annually to other states of the Union, would never have 
begun to flow — sad evidence of the literary drought which 
would have parched the soil, now so fertile in men of edu- 
cation. If the arts and sciences, public virtue and intelli- 
geuce had ever risen high enough to send out eraigraftt§ to 



rOREICTN TOURISTS. 169 

the West, they would have flowed m one undistinguished 
mass with those tides of emigration from other quarters, 
which, however strongly contrasted with them now when 
they meet, are soon and materially purified by the mixture. 
Had the Pilgrims acted like most other planters of colonies, 
in respect to public education merely, Bunker Hill would 
have had no name, and the United States no being. 

There are many things to be seen in Boston, some of 
which I know but little about, and too many more 1 had not 
the taste, or knowledge, or sagacity to observe or take 
pleasure in. I am no English tourist, and therefore cannot 
pretend to know every thing. If I had the wonderful facili- 
ties possessed by some of those men and women who survey 
the United States through their blue glasses, and then write 
things of which none of us natives ever heard, I might have 
had more to say. How pleasant must travelling be to such 
gentry ! A person with their talents might sit in his hotel, 
or sleep in the steamboat, and make books, whose originality 
at least would never be doubted : whereas such people as I 
can never say a thing of any place or object, without having 
everybody who is acquainted with it exclaim, " That's a 
fact ;" and can never indulge in a reflection, but the first 
plain, merely sensible person who reads it will say, " That's 
true — very good — he thinks as I do." 

Now this is no way to make a book, that's very certain. 
What gratification can it be to anybody to be told that 
things around him are what they know them to be ; and 
that they and their neighbours have done exactly what they 
have, and can do so and so, and no more nor less ? But, 
ah! when shall we equal the English? "Kara avis in 
terris" — now and then we find one of these rare fowl- 
not so rare, however, now as they once were — some think 
there are quite enough of them. One of them, I recollect, 
was at a hotel in New- York some months ago, where he 
gave out that he was collecting remarks, and every day took 
out his memorandum-book and pencil at table. Two or 
three persons, who appreciated the importance of his under* 
taking, were so obliging as to render him assistance ; and 
out of respect to his future readers, never allowed hioa to 

15* 



170 MASSACHUSETTS* 

take any thing but the choicest bits from that great news* 
market; and, indeed, generally took the trouble to stall- 
feed the cattle and pigeons before they brought them up. 
Under their hands our steamboats, race-horses, whale-boats, 
and spinning-wheels improved more in speed than they had 
done in years before ; and the march of mind in the United 
States was equalled only by the progress of the pumpkin- 
vines in the meadows. Had the wonders he heard been 
communicated to him in a different manner, he might have 
questioned the statements ; but they were introduced casu- 
ally in common conversation ; not narrated to him as prodi- 
gies, but mingled with the concerns of the day, and heard 
by others without surprise, and often without remark. This 
intelligent foreigner faithfully noted every thing, and must 
have taken a vast fund of available merchandise home to 
England. His friends grieved the less at his departure, 
because they cherished the hope of seeing him ere long in 
a book. As yet, however, they have been disappointed. 
Among the various travels in the United States since pub- 
lished in Great Britain, they have not found his name ; and 
although several of them have borne strong marks of his 
character, and were to a great degiee composed of materials 
like those which he collected, they are at once so like and 
unlike the valuable mass with which he was supplied, that 
they were inclined to suspect he had sold his notes " in lots 
to suit purchasers." 

It is impossible to travel far in this state, and, indeed, in 
some of the other states also, without perceiving signs of 
the recent impulses given to public instruction. In some 
places the old school-houses have been replaced with conve- 
nient and handsome edifices ; evidently planned with some 
regard to their importance, the public convenience, and the 
principles of taste. In others large buildings have been 
erected for public lectures, libraries, and cabinets of natural 
history. And if we had time enough to inquire into the 
state of public intelligence, we should find considerable im- 
provements made within the last three or four years. The 
associations for literary improvement, which have multiplied 
SO rapidly^ though varying in size, importance, and pla», 



LYCEUMS. ITi 

are known by the general name of lyceums, which is a word 
of good, sound, and classical origin ; and although often ap- 
plied to societies of a different and generally a loftier char- 
acter, may, perhaps, as well as any other, be used in this 
meaning. The career of knowledge, like that of benevo- 
lence, however humble the agents embarked in it or the 
scale of their operation, offers innumerable and often unex- 
pected gratifications. I have attended several meetings of 
such associations, and cannot easily describe all the ways 
or the whole extent in which I received gratification. 

So many meetings have been held, so many little socie- 
ties formed, and so many measures taken with direct refer- 
ence to the diffusion of knowledge, that those who appre- 
ciate its value are sure of receiving support in any judicious 
effort they may make in its favour. Suppose a public 
meeting is called in the village of Newtown, to form a vil- 
lage lyceum. The bell is rung in the meeting-house, and 
probably the minister, the teachers, male and female, assem- 
ble, with many or few of the people, according to circum- 
stances. The ladies sit at some distance, near enough to 
hear, yet far enough to show that modesty actuates them 
wherever they go. Some person, familiar with such socie- 
ties, gives a statement of their plan and effects, and com- 
ments on the advantages offered by the village for the forma- 
tion of a similar association. It is unanimously resolved, 
" That it is expedient to form a Newtown Lyceum." A 
committee is then appointed to form a constitution, which 
is perhaps presented to the same meeting, or if not, to a 
subsequent one. On the articles, probably, some discussion 
takes place ; and I can answer for it that they sometimes 
disclose both talent and eloquence, and always some facts 
concerning the state of society which may prove instructive 
to a stranger. I have wished that some of the well-meaning 
travellers who have told such ridiculous tales of us on the 
other side of the Atlantic could have listened to a few such 
discussions, even in our most obscure villages ; for they 
would have heard our plain country-people talking togethei 
about themselves, and that affords one of the best possible 
opportunities for learning their condition and character* 



17^ MASSACHUSETTS. 

" I had no notice, gentlemen," remarked a middle-aged 
man from another town, " that I was to address this meet- 
ing. I was passing through Newtown, and attracted here 
only by learning at the tavern that a lyceum was to be 
formed. I will mention briefly that the lyceum of Oldtown, 
of which I had the honour to be secretary, has been very use- 
ful, ad it is generally believed, in affording harmless amuse- 
ment as well as useful instrnction to different classes, par- 
ticularly the young. The funds are derived from the sub- 
scriptions of members, at half a dollar each, and a quarter 
of a dollar for mmors, who however are not entitled to a 
vote. The officers are a president, vice-president, record- 
ing and corresponding secretary, treasurer, and librarian, 
who, with five others called curators, form the board of 
directors, three of whom make a quorum for ordinary busi- 
ness. We have collected a library, by loan and gift, of 
books which could be spared by the members of the society; 
and thus each volume being made accessible to all, is as it 
were multiplied by two hundred, which is about the number 
of our members. One or two lectures on different subjects 
are delivered every week in the winter when the weather 
permits, by volunteers — professional gentlemen and farmers ; 
and occasionally we are favoured with some friend from a 
neighbouring lyceum, with an essay which has been well 
received there. We send a delegate every quarter to the 
county lyceum (where your delegates, I hope, will hereafter 
attend), and hear interesting reports from him of their pro- 
ceedings on his return. Our schools have been much im- 
proved, as the teachers are interested in introducing every im- 
provement in discipline and instruction which they can ob- 
tain ; and I must do most teachers the justice to say that they 
are true friends of knowledge and republican institutions. 
And while I am on this point, allow me to remark, gentle- 
men, that we have it in our power, though but humble indi- 
viduals, by pursuing a proper course of operations in the 
society which exists around us, to effect what the govern- 
ments of some countries of Europe are endeavouring to do, 
but cannot fully accomplish, with all the means in their pos- 
session. We can raise the standard of our common school/s 



LYCEUMS. 173 

to the highest grade, and carry their benefits to every indi- 
vidual. A monarch can do little for this object without the 
general and hearty co-operation of his people ; and if that 
can be secured by us, we need not despair for our want of 
any other influence. The French government, during the 
past year, established a splendid system of public instruc- 
tion; and the semi-weekly paper and the monthly maga- 
zine, published by the minister of instruction, inform us 
that it expressly avows, as essential principles, that religious 
education is inseparable from intellectual ; that the interests 
of the state require that every child be instructed ; and that 
the profession of a teacher, in every department, must be 
rendered respectable in the eyes of the public. Through 
the investigations made, the best systems in Europe may 
now be obtained from France ; and nothing remains to be 
done but to educate teachers enough, and to excite proper 
emulation among the people. 

" Make the results of education known, and you will 
awaken interest in schools : show parents and teachers better 
systems than they have, and they will wish to obtain them : 
raise the salaries of teachers, treat ihem with due re- 
spect, and you may have good ones. In many points men 
of their practical knowledge will easily improve by the mere 
exhibition of apparatus, or by witnessing the management 
of a model-class for a half hour. Encourage, therefore, 
the meetings of common school-teachers in the town and 
the county, for thus, still more than in the case of the 
library, the information of each becomes the property of all. 
We must remember that our schools should never be left 
alone by the good and the intelligent, until they shall have 
been placed on the best possible footing. Our teachers 
ought to be retained permanently in their profession, and re- 
spected as highly as any members of society. They ought 
also to be put in possession of every improvement for their 
aid which is known in the world. Our commerce with 
foreign nations is never made subservient to its highest ob- 
jects so long as we do not by means of it promote the dif- 
fusion of useful knowledge ; and intellectual must go hand 
in hand with religious. And mark the tendency of frequent 



174 ROUTE TO PROVIDENCE. 

association ! It is only the extension of that principle on 
which true friends receive mutual benefit from conversing 
on a topic with which they are partially acquainted. They 
share the whole stock with each other, and at the same time 
are stimulated to obtain and communicate more in future." 

By such remarks as these the individuals present feel 
encouraged to further the good objects by such means as 
are in their power. The stranger departs, but some one or 
more he leaves behind are prepared to act on a committee to 
procure lectures for the winter, or to solicit the loan of 
books, to visit the schools, to collect minerals, to make a 
map of the town, to correspond with some other society, to 
collect historical facts of the region in which he dwells, or 
to raise funds to procure a philosophical apparatus, or possi- 
bly to erect a building for the society. The meeting has 
convinced some individual at least that he could do more 
Ihan he before believed ; and more than one are now started 
on a career in which the example and support of others, 
with success in new exertions, will probably display to 
themselves powers of mind and means of usefulness, as well 
as of enjoyment, of which they have before been quite un- 
suspicious. 

In a country like this, where such a state of society 
has been established, great advantages are enjoyed by 
parents in rearing their children. And of this many of our 
emigrants appear sensible ; for some of them send their 
little ones from the South to be educated among the scenes 
and moral influences of their infancy. No higher expres- 
sion of attachment and veneration can be paid to their na- 
tive land than this, by such men as have done what they 
could, to improve the intelligence and morality of the regions 
where they dwell. Education is a staple commodity of 
Massachusetts and Connecticut, and more or less so of some 
of the other northern states. A child here is as sure of 
good examples, and good intellectual and moral instruction, 
as he would be of having rice enough in South Carolina, 
sugar-cane in Louisiana, or Indian corn in Ohio. 

The route from Boston to New- York, through Providence, 
is interesting on several accounts, but is well known ; and 



TRAVELLERS. 175 

besides, if I should stop to speak of it, I should not find 
time to complete the remaining part of my tour. It is a 
dreadful thing for a writer to have more materials than he 
can use ; an evil, fortunately, not very common at the pres- 
ent day; for if we may judge authors by their books, they 
generally want nothing more than something to say. How- 
ever, it is my chance this time to suffer under a surfeit. 



CHAPTER XXni. 

New- York— Hotels — Sculpture — South America— Dr. Sweet — 
Foreign Inventions. 

Nothing is more remarkable than the rapid multiplica^ 
tion and extension of hotels in New- York within a few 
years. About six or eight years ago there was none ex- 
cept the City Hotel, which was considered as affording very 
extensive, and at the same time genteel accommodations ; 
Bunker's, Washington Hall, and Park Place House bemg 
on a less extensive scale. The American Hotel was 
not opened without some anticipations among idle re- 
markers that the city would not support it ; and yet we 
have now the National, the Adelphi, the United States, 
Webb's, the Franklin, and, without mentioning many others 
in different streets, lastly, the moose, the mammoth. Holt's. 
What scenes of bustle are presented at the doors in the 
travelling-season, especially at the hours of steamboats ar- 
riving and departing, which now occur with but short inter- 
missions ! How roll the coaches to and from ; how the 
porters jostle you and one another ; how the strangers pour 
up or down the side-walks, with their great coats on their 
arms, or pack their wives and children hastily into coaches. 
How you can instantly distinguish these birds of passage 
as they stop at the corner before you, and survey the houses 
above them from top to bottom^ and then gaze at the crowd 



176 NEW-YORK. 

rushing by them, as if hunting for a needle in a hay-mow; 
What a difference it must make with them in respect to the 
pleasure of their journey, and the information they may 
carry home, whether they find a bed to lodge in or not ; and 
whether comfortable things befall them or otherwise. As 
we pass them in the street, it seems but a matter of little 
concern whether they are lodged here, or there, or nowhere ; 
whether they are treated honestly or have their pockets 
picked. But it is much to them. O this familiarity with 
crowds and bustle, this packing down of human flesh in 
cities like jerked beef, makes us in some respects wonder- 
fully selfish and indifferent to our species. 

Speaking of hotels — Holt's is the mammoth of them all. 
Seeking a friend one day, a gentleman traced him to Holt's, 
inquired for him at the bar, and was told that although 
not in his room, he was somewhere in the house. " That 
was what I was afraid of," said he — " I shall never find him. 
If he had gone out I would have given him a fair chase 
through the city, with some small hope of finding him : but 
in such a boundless labyrinth as this I will not waste time 
in searching for him." 

This hotel is sometimes called Holt's castle ; but it is 
rather the castle of indolence, or more properly that of glut- 
tony. " The refectory," "hot coffee," " the ordinary," "pri- 
vate dining-room," &c. &:c., these are conspicuous words 
blazoned on the doors and along the passages. Labourers, 
horses and carts are often seen lining the curb-stones, toil- 
ing and groaning even in removing the refuse and fragments 
of those enormous feasts which are daily consumed in this 
surfeit factory. A steam-engine puffs and perspires all day 
to raise aloft tons of food, merely for hundreds of trencher- 
men to bring it down again ; and, to judge from the smoke 
and hissing, one would think the inroads of hunger were 
more difficult to resist than the current of the Hudson or the 
Mississippi. 

This pile of granite is in one sense a temple of " Taste ;" 
— and what species of taste that is, the spectator may judge 
from any commanding view within some miles, by the broad 
l»anner that floats on its top, bearmg an enormous green 



SCULPTURE AS AN AMUSEMENT. 177 

turtle ! The sight of such an ensign is not a very gratify- 
ing one to a man of letters, unless indeed he be suffering 
under a paroxysm of hunger, to which his tribe are said to 
be rather predisposed. Under other circumstances, he ex- 
claims, O that my countrymen would content themselves with 
moderation in their animal enjoyments, and sacrifice more 
to the mind ! If this bar were converted into a library ; if 
tomes of knowledge were put in the place of bottles and de- 
canters, and the halls were furnished with food for the in- 
tellect, what a splendid university would this be ! 

I have been visiting some of the artists and exhibition- 
rooms ; and having already indulged in a few remarks on 
paintings and painters, I might apply some of the same 
views to sculpture ; but shall not stop here to be very par- 
ticular. I would briefly remark, that taste or genius, as it 
is called in sculpture, need not be of so gradual growth in 
our country as many persons think. Many of our travellers 
abroad will tell you, that an hour spent in the museum of 
Florence, or in the select society of Apollo and Co., in the 
palace of the Vatican, would be sufficient to convert thes 
most rude taste to something very refined and intelligent ; 
and as for genius, did not Canova grow up in a few years ; 
and was not his life more than long enough to revolu- 
tionize the world of artists ? Even in the most refined 
countries, every new generation must be educated to refine- 
ment. We have, therefore, only to use the proper means, 
and in a very short time might have taste and genius, and 
the results of both combined. 

It is a slavish doctrine too, that no artist can be worthy 
of respect who has not worked in Rome. Let not our youth 
be discouraged. Take a chisel, look at a man, and make 
the rock look as much like him as you can. But the rock 
is hard. Then take plaster, or common red clay from a 
brick-yard. It will wash off from the hands of genius — 
Canova used it often. Set about gravely to do what you 
have attempted when a boy with the snow. Try to make 
a man — it is not so puerile a business, neither is it so very 
difficult. You are not to be perplexed with colours, lights 
and shades, or in any way required to make a flat surface 

26 



178 HEW-YORK. 

look like what it is not. You may measure every part^ 
turn it this way and that by moving the block on which it 
stands, and alter, remould, and begin again. Nothing is 
spent but a little leisure time, a little attention and ingenuity, 
for which you will be more attentive and ingenious here- 
after, and a better judge of other people's work. The clay 
is as good as it was before, and you are not obliged to show 
your work or to try again. You are already like an artist 
in one respect ; you have failed in your first attempt to do 
as well as you wished. Even if you had tried to chisel a 
stone and broken it, your tool, or your skin, I dare say 
Canova and Thorwaldson themselves have done worse. 

There have been fewer good sculptors than good painters ; 
but sculpture is a much more natural and simple art than 
painting. It has its peculiar principles, and in certain de- 
tails there are more niceties ; but in general this is not the 
case. For example — there must be caution used to guard 
against any unmeaning, incorrect, or ridiculous effect in 
every point of view from which a statue or group is to be 
seen : while a picture has but one side. But how natural 
is the attempt to mould a material mass into the form of 
humanity ; and how much better do even children succeed in 
making images of snow than in drawing men with coal or 
chalk ! And how much more readily do the uninstructed 
express their opinions of statues than of paintings, because 
they feel better competent to judge ! I need but remark in 
addition, how Mi. Augur has astonished us all with his 
*' Jephtha and his daughter," because he had independence 
enough to act on these principles, and with extraordinary 
taste and perseverance. (How strangely I forgot to speak 
of Augur with praise while at New-Haven !) And how has 
the Scotch stone-cutter, Thom, with the coarsest stone, and 
in spite of his degraded subject, viz. a low ale-house group, 
imitated nature almost to perfection, without the benefit of 
instruction or a single model. 

I have said a good deal about taste, perhaps, to very little 
purpose, yet I must express my displeasure for that shown 
by many of my countrymen in several recent instances. 
While works of real merit, recommended by patriotic, or at 



FALSE TASTE AND IMMORALITY. 179 

least respectable historical associations are offered for 
exhibition almost in vain ; while artists of extraordinary 
talent, pure character, and commendable intentions are shut 
up in humble corners by public neglect, we can rush in 
crowds to see a poor and meager composition, whose merits 
are merely of an inferior order, and whose tendency is of a 
decidedly corrupting character. I speak of the " great im- 
moral painting" of Adam and Eve in Paradise. This picture 
has indeed a scripture subject, but that is its only merit, ex- 
cept the mere mechanical execution of the figures. The 
composition has not the essential quality of a just conception 
of the scene portrayed. There is no Eden, unless a few 
flowers on a green bank may express it; and no one 
could ever judge of the artist's intention or his subject, if 
the serpent and the apple were withdrawn. On the con- 
trary, every thing else, except the nudity of the personages, 
would lead to a very opposite idea. And as to the intel- 
lectual character of the piece, how mean, as well as how 
detestable, appears the character of the mind expressed in 
this painting ! Such an artist would make the Eden of 
purity a mere Mohammedan paradise. Nature is repre- 
sented as destitute of beauty ; and man, in his state of per- 
fection, as devoid of every exalted and ennobling sentiment. 
From woman, every intellectual trait seems to be removed ; 
and how insufferable is this, iu such a scene, where the 
acquisition of knowledge was the great instrument of tempta- 
tion, — the object to which she had yielded, and which she 
used as the ground of her argument with Adam ! 

For my own part, this miserable failure of a foreign artist 
will ever be doubly displeasing to me, because it has been 
so extensively rendered popular by the notice of men who, 
in my opinion, ought to have possessed more taste and dis-^ 
cernment. 

Because it was a scripture painting, fathers and mothers, 
laymen and clergymen, crowded to see it, indifferent or un- 
suspicious with regard to the impression which their example 
would have on virtuous and blushing youth, and on immoral 
and debased members of society, who rejoice when evjl 
gentinjents are allowed to walk jii the gunshine. 



180 NEW- YORK. 

Encouraged, I suppose, by the golden success of the pro- 
prietor of this painting, Hughes, a man of extraordinary 
talent as a sculptor, has produced a far more decent, yet a 
mean subject, which addresses itself to a somewhat similar 
taste. His skill ought to be bestowed in a more worthy 
manner before it receives general applause. The arts are 
infernal demons when allied with immorality or even with 
debased sentiments. 

"While we are crowding to Europe, or sending our children 
thither, to run through the great travelled routes, to see 
sights and learn to talk of things because they have been 
visited and talked of before, but generally with very little 
conception of why or wherefore, our country is an object 
of well-defined interest to many intelligent foreigners. I 
have fallen in with several gentlemen of education from 
South America, who are looking upon our society with par- 
ticular curiosity. Our southern brethren, in their zeal to 
learn the art of conducting a country upon our principles, 
chide our indifference ; and in the preference many of them 
show for subjects substantially important, might make us 
ashamed of our blind admiration for the splendid tinsel of 
Europe. While we are reading of feudal castles, or recall- 
ing with misplaced enthusiasm our visits to foreign capi- 
tals or courts, they are asking admission into our printing- 
offices, or observing the apparatus and exercises of our col- 
leges and schools. They are attracted by these things, be- 
cause they are in search of means to effect a definite object, 
and one on which the prosperity and indeed the existence 
of their country depends. The apparatus with which the 
governments of European countries are carried on is too 
expensive for them — it is entirely out of the question, both 
because it is too dear and because it is not at all appro- 
priate to their condition or designs. In looking over the 
Old World, therefore, they see, as we ought, that there is 
nothing appropriate to their use except certain scattered in- 
stitutions, or methods here and there, and these generally not 
the gaudy machinery, sustained with treasures, exhibited with 
pomp, and disguised with forms. What is worth knowing 
in Europe is generally that which it is not difficult to learn: 



SOUTH AMERICANS. 181 

what we should look upon, few eyes are likely to discover. 
The South Americans have contested the point for liberty 
and independence for twenty years or more with prejudice, 
ignorance, and immorality; and many of their statesmen, 
as well as other virtuous citizens, have been forced to the 
conviction that they must by some means instruct their 
countrymen and render them virtuous, or their past labours 
and trials will be unavailing. Let Europe be at peace, and 
permit only the concurrence of such circumstances as may 
be imagined, and fleets and armies will cross the Atlantic 
to recover those immeasurable and splendid regions to the 
dominion of despotism. Men who have sacrificed fortune, 
endured wounds, imprisonment, and exile, the loss of friends 
and families for the benefit of their country, are ready to 
part with all that remains rather than be ultimately defeated 
of their objects. When therefore they see by that means so 
simple and economical as the propagation of knowledge, the 
encouragement of virtue and industry, their point may be 
gained, they look upon the steps by which this may be 
effected with an interest which might excite some of our 
talking but inactive friends of education and public industry, 
and arouse them from that lethargy which so extensively 
prevails in the United States. 

Some of these South Americans having visited several 
of our institutions, celebrations, public, and Sunday-schools : 
" To think," remarked one of them, " that one-third of the 
capital of my country is invested in the convents ! How 
much more truly great are such monuments as your public 
school-houses than any of the edifices of Europe !" While 
seated in the teacher's desk, after a silence, he exclaimed ; 
" If I could learn the art of instruction here, I should desire 
no higher honour than to devote the remainder of my days 
to teaching the poor." This gentleman has since been called 
to the presidency of Mexico by acclamation, restored peace 
in the midst of civil war, held that office for a few months, 
and retired to private life. 

" What have we here ?" said another, as he entered an 
infant-school, while the pupils were marching to drafts — " a 
military parade commanded by women ? This is the way 

16* 



182 NEW-YORK. 

to lay the foundation of a good state. I have no higher 
pleasure," he added, " than to visit your schools and col- 
leges." He is now displaying at home his devotion to learn- 
ing in all its branches, under the most favourable circum- 
stances, viz. as president of the republic of New Grenada. 
One of his most enlightened countrymen and personal 
friends, in his first visit to a Sabbath-school, found the in- 
fant class singing a well-known juvenile hymn ; and as he 
understood the English language, said, with much feel- 
ing, " Truly the children of the United States are taught to 
repeat sentiments before they can understand them, while 
other nations might well make any sacrifice if they might 
with truth apply them to themselves : — 

* My God, I thank thee, thou hast plann'd 

A better lot for me ; 
And plac'd me in this Christian land, 
Where I may hear of Thee.' 

" I am fully convinced," said he, " that sincere, active 
benevolence alone is true greatness. Serving God, loving 
all mankind as brothers, and teaching them to exercise the 
same feelings towards each other — these are the only ob- 
jects worth living for. The principles of the Gospel of 
Jesus Christ are the only principles on which we can de- 
pend for private or public happiness. Honour, pride, and 
power — they are trifles, mere trifles." The sweet harmony 
of about an hundred and fifty children at an infant-school 
one day made his eyes glisten ; and he remarked, " How 
affecting it is to reflect, that ' Except ye repent, and become 
as little children, ye shall in no case enter the kingdom of 
heaven.'" This gentleman, the father of an interesting 
little family, six or seven hundred miles in the interior of 
Colombia, of which republic he was the last president, re- 
turned thither about a twelvemonth since, prepared to de- 
vote himself to the active promotion of education in all its 
branches, among all classes, the Indians and negroes in- 
cluded ; but has been elected to the vice-presidency of New 
Grenada, and compelled to accept of that station, in spite 
of two refusals. 



Reeves's patent colours. 183 

' These few cases have been mentioned to show that our 
countrymen have" been too long inattentive to the progress 
of our South American brethren in improvements of various 
kinds ; and to call to mind the important fact, that similarity 
of institutions and condition are rapidly identifying the in- 
terests, the hopes and fears of these two vast portions of the 
New World ; and it is daily becoming more imperiously our 
duty to seek to strengthen rather than to divide our mutual 
attachments, which, like the Isthmus of Darien, though 
narrow, should be as indestructible as the Andes. Other 
devoted friends of knowledge and virtue, our enthusiastic 
admirers and willing pupils, might easily be mentioned; 
but Pedraza, Santander, and Mosquera are given as ex- 
amples in which noble sentiments expressed among us, and 
intelligent observations made in our country, have been 
made to produce speedy and abundant fruits in the vast 
regions to which they have returned. 

It is all in vain for foreign artists or inventors to expect 
to keep from our countrymen the curious and useful im- 
provements in any of the arts they practise with success. 
There is a prying spirit among us, which will not rest till it 
possesses every thing that promises advantage. Men will 
go to the ends of the earth for facts which may lighten, 
facilitate, or perfect their labours in whatever craft they 
feel interested, since competition in manufacturing has 
made knowledge and skill available in the market. 

All the encomiums that can be bestowed, however, on 
American curiosity and perseverance, could not give me the 
same lively impressions of its nature as a short conversation 
I heard between a poor man and a shopkeeper, with whom 
he was bartering some neat products of his skill. 

" Did you ever see any of Reeves's Patent Water Colours ? 
If you did, I suppose you don't know exactly how they are 
made. Now these are as much Reeves's Colours as them 
you've got in your case yonder, though I made them yes- 
terday myself. You don't believe that, I s'pose ; but I've 
worked for Reeves in London : I couldn't find out in this 
country how to make such fine paints ; and went to England 
a-purpose to larn, I didn't see why I shouldn't help him 



184 NEW-YORK. 

supply this country, the demand has got to be so great now* 
Well, they let me go into the shop — they thought I didn't 
know nothing, and perhaps I didn't such a terrible deal. 
However, I know'd so much as this — I got so pretty soon 
that I could make the patent colours as well as anybody. 
But I wasn't quite ready to come off yet, mind you. There 
was the camel's hair-pencils ; nobody knew how to make 
them in the United States — and I thought I might as well 
larn that tue while my hand was in. Well, I left Mr. 
Reeves's, and got in a pencil-shop ; and the first thing I 
found out was, that they are made of nothing in the world 
but squirrels' tails." 

Here was an exclamation of surprise and doubt. 

"If they an't," continued the narrator, perfectly una- 
bashed, " I hope I may never stir out of my tracks. I tell 
you they're squirrels' tails, brought from America ; and if 
they can manufacture them cheap, sartingly we ought to 
undersell 'em. But then there's the putting the hairs to- 
gether all exactly right, and getting them through the little 
end of a chicken's quill, and there gluing them fast. That's 
the rub — not exactly that either — but there's the sticking- 
place. I guess I worked long enough at that to find out 
how it was done, and then had to be told and look too be- 
fore I could larn ; and law, it's easy enough." 

"Well, how is it?" 

" Ah !" replied the artisan, with a shrewd, penetrating^ 
and ironical look — " that's tellin'." 



185 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

A new Corner of the World — Recollections of the Cholera. 

Among the interesting individuals I saw in New-York,, 
was a tall man, of the negro race, who was brought to this 
country more than two years since, by Captain James Mor- 
rell, from a group of islands which he discovered in the 
Pacific Ocean, during a voyage he made to those seas. The 
public have had before them for a year his large volume, 
detailing his voyages, travels, and adventures, and briefly 
touching upon those islands and certain others, of which 
he claims to be the discoverer. Two men were brought 
home by Captain Morrell ; one of whom died some months 
since of the consumption, in the New- York Hospital. He 
was of a different language from the survivor, and very 
passionate and disobliging, never accommodating himself to 
his exile. Both had previously been exhibited in some of 
our principal cities, and have been often erroneously sup- 
posed to be natives of the Massacre Islands, at which Cap- 
tain Morrell lost many of his crew by the violence of the 
inhabitants. 

Having formed a favourable opinion of the captain from 
what I had heard from one of his seamen, of his humanity 
towards these poor savages ; and being pleased with the in- 
telligence, modesty, and philanthropic sentiments I dis- 
covered in him after a slight acquaintance, I took an oppor- 
tunity to spend some time with the man above mentioned, 
who lives in his family. He is of coarse features, almost 
perfectly African, with large, thick lips, curled hair, small 
nose (a little flattened), but is well formed, excepting a slight 
stoop at the shoulders. His colour is that of a dark mulatto, 
and his countenance has an expression of honesty, mingled 
on acquaintance with mildness, benevolence, intelligence, 
and friendliness, which render it interesting. He has had 



186 new-york; 

but little instruction ; but from this circumstance I was the 
better able to form an opinion of the mind of a heathen and 
a barbarian. I have leisure at present to say but very little 
in regard to a man of whom, during repeated interviews, I 
obtained materials enough to entertain a lover of novelties 
for some hours. 

Daco (pronounced Dahco) was son of a chief of his na- 
tive island, which is one of a small, but populous group, 
within six degrees of the equator, and near longitude 115 
west. His native island, Uniapa (or Ooneeahpah), has 
three prominent mountains, with some rough ground near 
the sea, where was Daco's residence, among a number of 
people whom he commanded. His father's people dwelt 
on the side of one of the mountains, his mother's in another 
place, &:c. &;c., there being a number of petty princes on 
each of the inhabited islands. War, he represents, is never 
carried on between different islands, but only between tribes 
of the same island ; and then wounds are much more fre- 
quent than deaths. The land is chiefly covered with forests; 
and he gave me names for fifty or sixty of our trees, shrubs, 
flowers, &c., some of which we have no purely English 
names for. The men go without any clothes at all : the 
women wear a single garment : the climate being extremely 
hot. They build houses after a model which I have ; bury 
their dead in them ; purchase wives with several articles 
which pass as money ; practise polygamy ; and some super- 
stitious ceremonies to cure diseases, obtain favourable winds, 
rain, &:c., but have no idolatry. They acknowledge one 
Supreme Being, the creator, rewarder of the good and pun- 
isher of the bad, invisible, &:c. They have traces of a 
revelation, considering a particular Jewish rite which they 
practice as commanded by God to make men better ; and 
their art of curing diseases and producing rain is also derived 
from him. Pango is the only inferior deity he informed me 
of. He presides over an inferior world, where every thing 
is delightful, and whither the good go after death. They 
are, however, invisible to each other, and can communicate 
only by the sounds of their voices. There is plenty of 
plants, flowers, animals, and objects agreeable to the sight : 



DACO, THE SAVAGE ISLANDER. 187 

but they are all white. The entrance to this world is 
through a cavern in the island of Garubi (Garroobee), in- 
habited only by two men, who, according to his description, 
may be Albinos. 

The inhabitants of that world are often spoken of as tune 
puroco, white men ; because white is nearest to what is in- 
visible. Hence, when Captain Morrell and the crew of his 
schooner, the Antarctic, were found to be white, they were 
supposed to be spirits. That invisible world is the land of 
music : Pan go having given the people of the islands five or 
six musical instruments, one of which is the three-holed flute, 
and another the shepherd's reed. The resemblance of his 
name with that of the Classical Pan, struck me ; as did the 
similarity of some of his words with those of the Greek and 
Hebrew languages, as well as certain peculiarities in the 
tongue not to be expected in one belonging to such a 
people. 

They cultivate a species of potato, beans, and several 
other roots and vegetables ; and have apples, cocoanuts, 
and other valuable fruits. Their birds are numerous, and 
often of brilliant plumage ; they have turtles, and catch 
many fish of different sizes, with either spears, or what our 
fishermen call grains. The largest animal is something 
like the wild boar, which has not the tail on the back like 
the native swine of other Pacific islands, and is hunted with 
spears. In one of the islands are ostriches, whose quills 
are one of their articles of trade : dogs are common. Their 
canoes, which are owned only by certain littoral tribes, are 
large, and move with rapidity. One of the islands at least 
must be volcanic ; and from one of the historical tales I 
heard, I presume that a tremendous explosion and com- 
bustion, which once destroyed a town and many of its in- 
habitants (at the command of Pango, who sometimes is a 
most destructive demon), were volcanic. The songs of this 
people are remarkable, as well as their propensity to rude 
poetry or rhythm. They have various airs, generally of a 
plaintive cast, but with greater compass and variety, I think, 
than are found in most other savage nations. The language 



iSd NEW-YORK. 

is smooth and melodious, having no sound which we cannot 
easily make, unless it be an occasional guttural g. They 
interchange some of the consonant sounds, but generally not 
the same as the Sandwich and other islanders, whose lan- 
guages I have examined. The tongue has a considerable 
resemblance to those of some of the Polynesian Islands in 
structure, and a distant one in words ; but it is more agree? 
able, harmonious, and manly. A " nursery song," begin- 
ning EoQf eao, labi lahi vivi na potu, Slc, has a very sweet 
air, and contains several kind ephhets addressed to the 
child, promising that its head shall be ornamented with a 
feather of the labi or parrot if it will cease crying. A 
swimming song and a canoe song, which also I wrote dowUi 
are mellifluous and appropriate to their subjects. 

Daco has a disposition of the most frank, simple, and 
amiable description. He admires much what he sees, and 
says that there are many very good men among us ; and 
though he is impatient to revisit his own land, says he will 
" come back to ^Merriky IsW'' (America island), and bring 
one of his brothers with him. He was pleased with a 
proposition to teach his people what would be useful to 
them ; and if instructed, or accompanied by some judicious 
philanthropist on his return, would no doubt render them 
material service. I visited a school with him, and he took 
a deep interest in some simple religious instruction which 
the children received in his presence, as he has a little 
knowledge of our language. He promised on his arrival at 
his island to collect the children every Sabbath, and teach 
them in like manner. 

It strikes a person strangely to feel such a kind of friend- 
ship towards an ignorant savage as I acquired for Daco ; 
but one's attachment for such an individual may be as 
sincere, and productive of more real gratification, than we 
sometimes find among the children of art, the sons of luxury 
and vice around us ; and I have the pleasure of thinking 
that my feelings were reciprocated, which is more gratifying 
Ihan a whole volume of false professions of friendship. 

Some parts of the city awakened in me recollections of 



RECOLLECTIONS OF THE CHOLERA. 189 

the season of 1832, and the cholera in New- York. I spent 
several weeks there at that time, and may be excused for 
expressing a few of the feehngs then excited. 

For myself, I had found it difficult to realize, that the 
busy and apparently gay crowds in the streets might be 
sobered and o' Idened in an hour by the appearance of the 
disease, and 5; mattered towards all points of the compass by 
its ravages, jtideed, I had found it hard to persuade myself 
that I was soon to know it by dreadful experience or obser- 
vation. And when it was confidently reported to have ap- 
peared, I flat-ered myself that it would have been modified 
by the climate ; and anxiously inquired whether it had that 
dreadful blue complexion, those irresistible spasms and rack- 
ing pains, accompanied with an undisturbed mind. And when 
I found that the same monster was among us, which I had 
so long regarded as fabulous in India, and that he had come 
as it were with a stride across the Atlantic, I began to look 
within : for he had seemed to cry, " To the ready and the 
unprepared I come." 

There was a peculiar seriousness immediately percepti* 
ble on the face of society. The gay and lively had gener- 
ally disappeared, and no longer interrupted such thoughts as 
abundant leisure inclined others to entertain. And what 
thoughts were these? We were soon deserted by most 
of our friends, or had deserted them for the same rea* 
son : we had momentary expectations for weeks of see- 
ing our own children, parents, brothers, and sisters seized 
with the terrible disease before our eyes ; and the morning, 
evening, noon, and night air being almost equally dangerous, 
we could do little out of doors for days in succession. I 
cannot easily imagine a case in which the body could be 
condemned to more perfect idleness, while there was every 
thing to excite and occupy the mind. Almost every species 
of food, commonly considered harmless or nutritious, was 
prohibited ; and the very medicines which we kept by our 
bedsides, in our offices, stores, and pockets, we were pe- 
remptorily forbidden to take or administer a moment before 
or a moment after the appropriate time. In circumstances 
like these it would be impossible for any mind, observant 

17 



190 NEW-YORK. 

of its own reflections and the movements of others, not to 
receive instruction. Not only my own feelings, but the ex- 
pressions dropped from the lips of others, were of a much 
more solemn tone, and deeper import than usual. I found 
an involuntary " farewell" on my tongue whenever I parted 
from a friend, even for a few hours, and a kind of surprise 
at meeting any one whom I had not seen for a day or two. 
Life was so precarious that it was not calculated on as en- 
during ; and I now felt something of that astonishment at 
death's delay which I had often experienced on his arrival. 
The tone of conversation, with whomsoever I spoke, was 
evidently very different from that of ordinary times : for 
there were strong and irrepressible feelings in every breast, 
which laid their hands upon the tongue, the limbs, and the 
features. The soul seemed to press to the eyes with such 
anxiety to watch the exterior world, that you could see it 
plainer than ever before. The risible muscles seemed pal- 
sied ; and those which are usually ready to furl the curtains 
of the countenance in smiles, no longer obeyed, or rather 
were no longer ordered to act. 

A friend, in speaking of the idle questions of certain 
thoughtless persons from a distant place, on this awful 
subject, said, " When they exclaimed ' how can you sub- 
mit to such privations of food ?' I felt like weeping at the 
memory of the solemn lessons which had placed us above 
such frivolous considerations as those of taste. Ah, you 
know not what you can do till the cholera comes among 
you. ' Did you not prohibit the subject from conversation V 
inquired they. ' How would that have been possible V replied 
I : ' besides, how heathenish, how impious it would have 
been, so to close our eyes against the sight of the Almighty's 
judgments — so to stifle the voice of Providence ?'" 

" 1 have made one discovery," remarked another friend, 
" which I intend to practise the rest of my life. I find I can 
not only live on very simple food, entirely undisguised by 
spices and gravies, but that two-thirds or one-half the quan- 
tity I used to consider necessary for my sustenance is more 
favourable to my health and enjoyment. How important a 
practical lesson is this which the cholera has taught me ! Had 



RECOLLECTIONS OF THE CHOLERA. 191 

I learned and practised upon it from my youth, I might have 
been a more happy, wealthy, and useful man. I wish I 
could proclaim, on the house-tops, the doctrine I now em- 
brace ; it would save thousands from disease, poverty, suf- 
fering, and even death." 

It was only because the warnings of physicians against 
our eating prohibited articles was repeatedly and terribly 
backed by the sudden voice of death, that we were won 
over to entire obedience to their commands, at first often 
treated as childish. Some slight indulgence of appetite was 
often found, like the feeble wire pointed at a thunder cloud, 
the cause of an instantaneous and deadly bolt from heaven. 
We then found that we dearly loved life : and " What shall 
we eat, and what shall we drink ?" was changed for " What 
shall a man give in exchange for his soul ?" The effect of 
abstinence was soon perceptible in the mind as well as the 
body. The pulse was cooler, the feelings more manageable 
though more powerfully acted upon, the reason more undistur- 
bed, and the judgment more deliberate, decided, and uniform. 
Morning, noon, and midnight this world and the next stood 
before the eyes in the same proximity and comparative 
importance. Joy and grief sat, as it were, for weeks within 
the reach of our hands, on the right and the left : equally 
prepared to join our company at a moment's warning, when- 
ever death or life should be decided on for ourselves or our 
friends. 

The weather was delightful during the most fearful ravages 
of the disease. I walked out early on the Battery, alone — 
there was no walking or doing any thing else for pleasure. 
I admired the thick and verdant foliage ; and turned for 
home with the reflection that so splendid a morning and 
such verdure I had seldom or never witnessed. The long, 
silent, and empty streets, with the grass starting through the 
pavements, and the curb-stones white with a washing of 
lime, presented a sad picture of solitude ; and a litter, hurry- 
ing to the nearest hospital, showed that amid these signs of 
desertion, the awful cholera was at work. That day's 
report was the heaviest of the season. 



192 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Fashionable Education — Hudson River — The Power of Fancy — Cat- 
skill Mountains — Thunder-storms — Rainbows — Morning Scene. 

I AM a traveller, periodically, like all my countrymen ; 
and deserve the name, in common with almost all my feilovi^- 
citizens, of belonging to the greatest travelling nation in the 
world. Of course, on stepping into one of our steamboats, I 
ought reasonably to feel a personal interest in the question, 
so important, though so seldom answered : " What do we 
travel for ?" I am ready to confess that I have changed my 
own views of this subject several times in the course of my 
life. I began my travels with an idea that it was an im- 
portant object to become familiar with the great cities and 
edifices of Europe ; the scenes of great events, and the 
peculiarities as well as characters of distinguished men. 
Such, I dare say, is the impression with which one of my 
fellow-travellers, on my right, lately set out on a tour to 
Europe ; but I find that while he familiarly describes 
various localities and personages abroad, he despises 
every object around him. Hence I presume he regards 
all on this side of the Atlantic as I once did, as beneath his 
attention. To attempt his correction or cure I shall not : 
for I have once had that foreign disease, and know how 
alone it is ever removed. Let him attempt to use his 
knowledge ; let him try to apply his facts to things ; and 
he will find by degrees that they will not meet. The mis- 
direction which he has received from his tutors and from his 
books, if they are to be corrected at all, can be corrected 
only by experience. 

Happily, better opinions have come into use within a few 
years on subjects of this nature. Our scenery, history, and 
biography attract much more attention than they once did. 



POWER OF THE IMAGINATION. 193 

A fashionable mother near me has supplied herself with a 
map of the North River, to trace out some of the finest 
country-seats upon the banks ; and yonder is a youth in 
humble life, who is deeply absorbed in reading of the events 
which occurred here during- the Revolution. Indeed, I have 
often been forced to confess that there is more sound taste 
and judgment displayed, even on literary matters, by the 
humble, than by the lofty in society. But there are certainly 
some points in which we might pursue a different course 
with reason and advantage. Here is a wealthy merchant, 
who, though he owes his fortune to the habits of industry 
and economy he learned in a little country town, and 
the intelligence which he caught by contagion in a so- 
ciety where it prevailed, has trained up his sons to habits of 
extravagance and idleness, which liave already begun to un- 
dermine it. A disrelish for every rational employment, and 
the restraints they have found in decent society, have now 
caused their separation from the family — family circle I can-^ 
not call it ; for fashion draws up her votaries in a half-moon^ 
with all faces gazing on the wonder of the day, be it what 
it will. The daughters — with heads garnished without, and 
empty as the gourd-shells their father used to drink out of — 
what will be left of you after the thunder-storm of death 
shall have cleared away, which must in his turn strike the 
main pdlar of your house ! Heartless, headless, and help- 
less by education ! Fashion has not only trained your feet 
in Chinese shoes, and blown through your brains like a bird's 
egg, but has taught you crooked paths, and poured poison 
into your hearts. O for a cup-full of that good counsel 
which your grandmother used to pour out like water ; O the 
influence of her example upon you for an hour ! Would 
there not be some little hope of your breaking through the 
great system of imposture which all things seem combine 
ing to play before your eyes 1 

A youth from Scotland, on board, is hastening northward-^ 
the sooner to turn westward, and to feast his taste at 
Niagara. Fancies concerning the giant of cataracts he has 
indulged in among his native hills ; and the secret of bis. 
curiosity, as I believe is often the case, appears, to. he ta 

17* 



194 HUDSON RITEK. 

compare the reality with the creation of his imagination^ I 
am prepared to find him at first disappointed, and afterward 
more than gratified : for I doubt not he has heaved Ossa on 
Pelion to make the cataract rush from between two moun- 
tains, as that is the way cascades do in Scotland ; and it 
would be natural for a stranger to look for striking features 
in the scenery of the tremendous verge. Thus he will be 
disappointed, if not disaffected, by the first view. The 
imagination is a most Avonderful architect. I remember 
that the cathedrals of France, when i visited them in my 
outh, appeared much too small : and when I stepped out 
of St. Peter's, and looked at the blue sky, I thought — 
*' Paltry little insect! Poor man, is this then all you can 
do ?" A heathen writer says, that the nature of the gods 
was lamentably degraded by the sculptors of Greece, be- 
cause the representations they gave of them in marble were 
much less ethereal and pure than the conceptions of the com- 
mon people, and declares that the mind of an uneducated man, 
if left to form its own views, would have created far supe- 
rior characters. This is a fine, and I doubt not to a degree a 
just compliment to the powers of the imagination. We might 
find evidence of its skill within us daily, if we took the same 
pleasure in studying its capacities and condition as we do 
those of our pockets. 

Scotland and the Scotch have much to interest Americans. 
To say nothing of our obligations to them for poetry and 
prose, M-^e owe them for the testimony they have borne to 
the worth of knowledge and virtue. Wherever we find a 
Scotchman, we find a man trained to principles of probity, 
industry, and economy, which would enrich any land on 
earth, and with a respect for knowledge which would exalt 
it. I speak here in general terms, without regard to indi- 
vidual exceptions. 

The banks of tlie Hudson are much more delightful than 
is commonly supposed, even by those who feel familiar with 
the scenery of that beautiful stream. I had been a frequent 
passenger in the steamboats between the city and Albany, 
from the early days of steamboat travelling, before I was 
induced to explore the banks, as I have since done at 



THE MOUNTAIN HOUSE. 195 

many intermediate points. While on my annual tour, I 
therefore feel desirous of informing others who may this 
season purpose to pass along this route, that by allowing 
themselves a little more time, they may greatly enhance the 
enjoyment and advantages of travelling. 

Much of the course of the Hudson certainly offers beau- 
tiful or striking scenes to the eye of every passenger. But 
it is to be remarked, that the breadth of the stream ne- 
cessarily tames many features, and shades or excludes many 
glimpses of grandeur and beauty which are fully disclosed 
only on a nearer view. The picturesque and varied leatures 
of the eastern shore of Haverstraw Bay, seen from the large 
steamboats, which slide along under the western banks, 
afford a strikhig case of this kind. There the traveller may 
find a delightful retreat for a few days or even weeks, if he 
have so much time at his disposal, and enjoy extensive and 
varying views upon the broad expanse of water, from eleva- 
tions of two or three hundred feet. 

I always count more on a person who has visited such a 
place as Catskill Mountains by design, than on a common 
every-day traveller. Unless his ascent to that noble emi- 
nence has been the effect of an accidental attachment to a 
^arty bound thither, or to the mere dictation of some ac- 
quaintance, who has been obliging enough to save the lazy 
fellow the trouble of determining beforehand where he will 
go, we have reason to presume that he has been attracted 
by the love of what is truly fine. It is humiliating to the 
conceited and the proud, to the worldly wise and to the 
eminent — in money, to contemplate scenes which pronounce 
a kind of anathema upon the common objects of devotion. 
If I were rich and purse-proud, or the occupant of any office 
or station obtained by chicanery or flattery, certain I am I 
would as willingly have my character sifted by a jury of 
twelve freeholders, as stand and think of my motives and 
myself in the presence of such a scene. 

The rigorous climate of the Mountain House has been 
often blamed for forbidding the approach of the gay and 
affluent, who form such a figure in the annual crowds of 
travellers. But if the scene were as flattering to per- 



196 CATTSKILL MOUNTAINS. 

sons of that description as their mirrors and their dependants, 
the Pine Orchard would be as much resorted to as Saratoga 
itself. 

Soon after my arrival, while I stood on the projecting 
shelf of rock, which actually overhangs for some distance 
the precipice just in front of the hotel, and commands the 
valley of the Hudson for sixty or seventy miles, with the- 
uplands beyond, and several summits in Connecticut and 
Massachusetts, admiring the serenity of the sky, I observed 
a cloud, shaped like a mushroom, and like it white as snow 
above and dark below, moving slowly dovv^n from the upper 
part of the river's course. None other was in sight, and 
this was at least a thousand feet below me. I soon per- 
ceived that it was charged with lightning, and pouring 
down a plentiful shower. Like a vast watering-pot it 
drenched the acres, the miles over which it passed ; and 
with a glass I could imagine some of the feelings of the in* 
habitants of the farm-houses and villages over which it suc- 
cessively moved, as they were involved in its shadow, awed 
by its thunder, and in turn restored to the light of the sun. 
The habitations of men appear from that eminence like the 
shells and coats of insects ; and it costs an exertion to real- 
ize that human interests can be of importance enough to 
claim serious attention to those things on which wealth or 
subsistence depends. Man has become a microscopic ob- 
ject ; and how paltry seems the least diminutive of his. 
race ! And the importance of a claim to this or that speck 
of earth or water called a home-lot or a fishing privilege, 
appears consummately ridiculous. Poor creatures, why not 
learn to be content with what is necessary, assist those who- 
are in want, and turn to subjects worthy of attention and 
love ? But it is the vice of the insect that he prefers the 
ground, and refuses to spread the wings with which he 
might fly to a loftier and purer region. " De gustibus non 
disputandum," said the aeronaut, whose pig squealed as h& 
rose in the air, and tried to nose his way through the bottom 
of his parachute. 

The singular cloud pursued its way slowly down over a 
space, I presume, of twenty miles, deluging the country, aa 



SUNRISE SCENE. 197 

I afterward learned. Where all the water came from I could 
not imagine ; neither could I see whence came all the 
clouds which afterward overspread the valley of the Hudson. 
During a thunder-storm, which threw its lightning and ut- 
tered its thunders over a great space beneath us, we enjoyed 
almost uninterrupted sunshine. At length a commotion 
began among the clouds in the south, where a cluster of 
small and rounded eminences, like the hills of an old corn- 
field, showed the Highlands (now robbed of their sublimity); 
and a wind blowing through that pass, rolled up the vapours 
in heaps, like snowballs, increasing as they proceeded, till 
they were all flying northward, as if in haste to escape from 
view. Their forms and agitation reminded me of the con- 
sternation of a panic-struck army: and a few small clouds 
came pouring over the heights above our heads, and min- 
gling with them, like timid confederates afraid to await the 
wrath of some unseen conqueror. Almost all this time, two 
rainbows of the brightest colours stood just before us, with 
their feet planted upon the green foliage, fifty yards or more 
below the precipice, forming arches which approached three- 
quarters of a circle, with the most splendid colours imagi- 
nable, especially about the key-stone. The glittering aspect 
which the landscape afterward assumed, with the motions 
of the sails on the river, the singing of the birds around us, 
and the colours of the sky in a beautiful sunset, left the heart 
and mind in a lofty tone to await the solemnities of night. 

After a period of calmness all around, when the air had 
been undisturbed for about two hours, lightning began to 
flash, and thunder to roll beneath us ; and during several 
hours, the whole valley seemed overflowing with the sounds 
of battle. The evening passed amid the comforts and 
light of the great parlour, in a social circle, now enlarged 
by the addition of several friends unexpectedly found in that 
aerial retreat. 

A few glimpses at the moon and the landscape, after mid- 
night, from the window of my bedroom, occupied my fre- 
quent waking moments ; and as soon as I could perceive the 
first blush of dawn, I dressed, and hastened to the roof of 
the hotel, to watch the approach of day, to a scene whose 



198 CATTSKILL MOUNTAINS. 

whiteness made me suppose it had been covered with snow. 
There was more sublimity to be feasted upon every moment 
that passed, than some people witness in their whole lives. 
What a grovelling soul that must be which prefers a morn- 
ing slumber to such a sight ! When the spirit of a man is 
once roused, his senses oppose no resistance to his will. 
Let a spark of glory, from such a scene, once kindle his 
heart ; and sight, hearing — his whole animal nature — are 
roused and ready to do their parts. Let the master but 
appear, and the slaves will obey. 

The fresh and unbreathed morning air, the glowing east, 
the boundless scene, made me feel as if released for ever 
from weariness and care. As the light increased in the sky 
to a broad glow, it gave something of its hue and brilliancy 
to a sheet of whiteness which overspread the whole valley 
of the Hudson, for not less than twelve or fifteen miles in 
width and thirty or more in length. How so heavy a snow- 
storm could have prevailed there in summer, I could not 
divine ; but every hill and wood was covered, and nothing 
could be discovered below the higher uplands except the 
course of the river, like a dark line traversing the scene 
from north to south. A bright red glare at length lay across 
the whole vale between me and the sun ; which, when he 
rose, was increased almost to the glitter of polished metal. 
The beams struck upon the neighbouring heights, and the 
few remaining trees of the ancient pine orchard near me, 
which once stood in rows, as if planted by the hand of 
man. The birds chirped, and the cocks began to crow at 
the base of the mountain ; and peak after peak grew bright, 
till it became broad day to the whole world around. 

I was now surprised to see something like a white sheet 
lifted gradually up from the opposite bank of the Hudson, 
showing a few fields, houses, roads, and wood-lots beneath 
it ; and gradually mile after mile was thus slowly laid bare 
by the removal of a thin covering of dense white mist, which 
was slowly rolled off clean by the south wind, and revealed 
to my eye many of the hills and valleys, the farms and vil- 
lages, the meadows and slopes of three counties, the abode 
of some thousands of inhabitants. 



A GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 199 

All these sights, and more, were offered to my view, and 
all their indescribable impressions to my mind, in the short 
space of twenty hours, which limited my visit. A ride of 
two miles took us to the lakes and the cascades, and gave 
us a sight down the Clove, — a deep and declining mountain- 
pass through which the stream that flowed beside us pur- 
sues its headlong way, after its two leaps of 175 and 85 feet. 



CHAPTER XXVL 

Method and Effects of labour-saving in teaching Latin — A Frontiers* 
man — Early History — Conversations on Health and Dress. 

What were the real, bona fide effects of my grammar-school 
education ? What were the results of my study of Virgil T 
to confine the question to one point. Truly, truly, it is 
difficult to answer. To what extent my mind was increased 
in vigour or capacity by it, I cannot tell : perhaps as much 
as might be wished — for a giant is not sensible of his own 
growth. I am sure, however, that I was often filled with 
disgust at a language which I ought to have been made to 
love ; viewed with jealousy and resentment my teacher and 
fellow-students ; had paroxysms of misanthropy and of dis- 
gust towards learning ; and formed many erroneous opinions 
about the objects and enjoyments of life ; and often vacil- 
lated widely in my views of virtue and vice. 

Some very painful retrospects have often occupied my 
mind since I spent an hour in a Latin school, some time ago, 
and witnessed a number of boys engaged in my former em- 
ployments ; and to-day something happened, or was men- 
tioned in conversation, which has recalled them. My ap- 
parition, in the seat of an examiner, at the school of which I 
speak, seemed to strike a chill through the warm and in- 
genuous hearts of the pupils ; ah ! how lamentably abused 
by undeserved harshness ; how intoxicated and debased by 



200 HUDSON RIVER. 

turns with that fatal spur, emulation ; that alcohol of the 
intellect, that labour-saving instrument to which the ignorant 
and the indolent teacher ever resorts, because it easily ex- 
cites that attention which he ought to produce by displaying 
the attractions and the practical use of learning. 

One interesting youth, at the head of his class, intoxicated 
with praise, and desperately fearing a fall " from his high 
estate," showed extreme agitatioi in his eye, his cheek, and 
his voice ; and experienced emotions more exhausting to 
his mind, I have no doubt, than the labour of mastering three 
such lessons. Another, smiling with the consciousness of 
a task well performed, and the anticipation of a successful 
recitation, failed through an amiable diffidence to retain his 
presence of mind ; and from one accidental error fell into a 
labyrinth from which he could not recover his way, and 
sinking into his seat, with swelling veins, sobbed and wept 
till the close of the exercise. A third, after passing unhurt 
the ordeal of construing and parsing, was treated with a 
contemptuous expression by the teacher for a paltry fault 
in not discriminating between " the use of the poets" and 
*' position" in giving the rules for scanning ; and I saw his 
evil genius, an irritable temper, which ought to have been 
systematically pacified by a judicious treatment, rise and 
drive his feelings almost to desperation. This was as much 
as I could bear, and I was glad to retreat from such an in- 
tellectual and moral inquisition. 

A short interview with one of those active beings who 
have shared in the excitement and labours of our new and 
distant settlements, or beat the bush in advance of civili* 
zation, conveys more lively ideas of what is actually going 
on there, than reading all the essays and statistics in the 
world. Now and then we meet a stray one in this part of 
the country. He looks like a wild bird in an aviary, or 
amid a yard of domestic fowls : so regular and orderly and 
stupid do we all feel in his presence. Two or three such 
characters I have fallen in with ; but it is impossible to get 
a regular narration out of them of greater length than a few 
minutes. They have brought their restless activity along 
with them, and seem physically unable to be quiet. One 



A BACKWOODSMAN. 201 

of them attracted my attention as soon as I saw him in the 
boat. He had been everywhere — why, or how, I never 
knew. 

" Was you ever in St. Louis ? New-Orleans V — " Ah, 
mon ami !" — "At Detroit?" — " There's a rough set of fel- 
lows. I was one of the first on the Upper Huron. It's getting 
settled now fast with people from New- York." — " Have you 
ever been along to the north of Lake Superior ?" He was 
a short man, in a bluejacket, with both hands on a double- 
barrelled rifle, and a powder-horn and shot-bag next his 
vitals. The outer rim of his eyelid was perpetually drawn 
up, lest it should intercept any of the view ; for a good 
woodman's sight, I believe, sweeps three-quarters of a 
circle without moving the head. His feet were restless, as 
if he had been used to long grass and snakes ; and although 
his age was probably fifty, every nerve was full of activity, 
every limb of vigour, and every motion and word of inde- 
pendence and fearlessness. 

" Out on the Mississippi they are an active set of fel- 
lows," said he ; " they can build steamboats and launch 
them, and run them, and blow them up about as quick as 
any other people. ' Shoal a-head !' you'll hear 'em sing out 
— ' How do you know?' — -' Why, she ripples.' — ' Well, sit on 
the safety-valve, and jump her over !' That's pleasant sail- 
ing enough, to be sure, where you find the watermen enter- 
prising so ; but it's cruel to see the deer come down to the 
shore to drink, and not stop to go after them with your rifle. 
I like the ground, I tell you. First I began along Lake 
Ontario. There's some woods there, but not much game ; 
yet I thought it was fine fun to be all alone with my old 
gun. It was not very long, though, before I was off: and 
where do you think I was next ? Why, after being at Cin- 
cinnati and St. Louis about one thing and another, I got out 
to Green Bay, among the Indians. There's a set of honest 
fellows for you. You needn't have anybody to go with 
you and say this is Mr. such a man. All you've got to 
do is, if you come across a bear or a deer, just shoot them, 
and leave them on the ground ; and the first wigwam you 
come to, say, 'Friend, I've come among you for a little 

18 



202 HUDSON RIVER. 

while to stay; I don't want any thing but just to shoot my 
rifle once in a while. — There's a bear or a deer just back 
in the woods, which any of you can have if you want it.' I 
tell you what, if they won't treat you like the biggest man ! 
And you needn't do any more than this : the story Mali go 
before you ; and wherever you come they know you ; and 
how you can shoot a bear, or a deer, as the case may be. 
Well, then I thought I would go where there wasn't so 
much civilization ; for I wanted to see more of the Indians ; 
and I've been through that country all along a good piece 
north of Lake Superior." 

" Do you know that district?" inquired a listener. "Ask 
my gun," replied the speaker. " I was there six weeks, all 
alone, among as good game as ever fell under a muzzle. 
That's the life : get two or three days' provisions of venison 
or bear's meat on your back, shot-bag full, powder-horn full ; 
and then, if you meet an Indian, or a white man, or any 
thing, you can befriend them. But you want to know some- 
thing of folks before you can trust them. The Green Bay 
Indians, — I should feel safe among them to lie right down 
on the ground, in the woods, between two, and sleep all 
night. Why, a man would be a great deal safer so than he 
would be in Broadway, in New- York, with fifty dollars in 
his pocket, at eleven o'clock at night. 

" They are good fellows ; but I'm ready to shoot with any 
of them : — walking, running, swimming, diving, flying, any 
way. I've shot with Egg Harbour fellows on the wing, and 
I'll try with an Indian any way he likes, till they come to a 
sitting mark and a dead rest ; and then I've done with him." 

After the capture of the forts on the highlands by the 
British, in 1777, and breaking the chain stretched across 
the Hudson, at West Point, they sailed up ; and, as I have 
been informed, burnt a brig in Saugerties Creek. They 
had a man on board, of Dutch extraction, v/ho pointed out 
the dwellings of persons particularly obnoxious to the 
enemy. On passing the house where Washington had been 
quartered, they fired a shot through the roof. They burnt 
a brig, loaded with tea, in Saugerties Creek, and Mr. Liv- 
ingston's house opposite and several others. 



FASHIONABLE ILL HEALTH. 203 

Saugerties, and the banks of the creek behind it, were 
settled by French Huguenots, who emigrated, after a long 
residence in Holland, bringing many Dutch connexions 
and the Dutch language with them, but a good deal of 
intellioi'ence. Another settlement of the same kind was 
made below, at the Strand, one of the landings of King- 
ston ; after which at the village of Kingston itself, and Mar- 
bletown. They chose the best soil. A German settlement 
was made west of the Catskill Mountains. At Tappan was a 
real Dutch settlement; and Newburgh was a colony of Irish. 
"Intelligence," regretted a fellow-passenger, who spoke from 
personal knowledge, "is at a low ebb. The intelligence 
of the original French faded away amid their scattered set- 
tlements and the dangers and trials of their situation, along 
with the language. The schools have been few and poor. 
The academy, founded at Newburgh many years ago, has 
produced considerable effects. Governor Clinton there re- 
ceived an important part of his education, as well as a num- 
ber of other gentlemen distinguished in the learned profes- 
sions. He probably learned here, from observation, the im- 
portance of public education, of which he became a most 
efficient advocate." 

" See how much better I feel already," said a young lady 
to her father, as they sat down at breakfast ; " I feel quite 
hungry, and have no doubt that by the time I have been at 
the Springs a week or two, if I have exercise enough, I 
shall have strength sufficient to set off for Niagara." — 
" Well," replied the father, who seemed to be absorbed in 
thoughts of his business, which he had reluctantly left at the 
city, as it would appear, to attend his daughter on a tour 
for pleasure, under the pretext of health, — " Well, if you 
get cured of your dispepsia, or whatever it is, it's all I want. 
I am hungry, too : I believe this air is good for us both." 
Neither of the two had sagacity enough to perceive, that 
rising two hours earlier than usual, with the excitement and 
exercise they had experienced, were the chief causes of the 
improvement of their appetites and the cheerfulness of their 
feelings ; and that a more reasonable system of life at home 
would have had nearly the same effect on them every day. 



204 HUDSON RIVER. 

And this is the simple truth in respect to a large majority of 
those who travel for their health every season. They might 
avoid the symptoms from which they suffer, by following a 
few of those simple rules of nature from which we never 
can deviate with impunity ; or if they have become enfee- 
bled or diseased by conformity to the examples of fashion- 
able life, might thus soon and effectually recover a sound 
state of health. No apology can be necessary for my 
quoting here the adage so worn out by frequent repetitions 
in my youthful ears, because now it is entirely obsolete 
among many circles, and will sound like a perfect novelty. 

" Early to bed and early to rise, 
Will make you healthy, wealthy, and wise." 

Retire and rise early; aim low in matters of show; and 
in things of solid worth let none shoot at a higher mark than 
you. Plan something useful every day ; do something good 
every hour, and love something good every moment. Re- 
ject the foolish conceit, that any thing like useful labour can 
be dishonourable. Introduce your hands and feet to such 
services as they were designed for ; while you occupy your 
mind with the contemplation of subjects worthy of its na- 
ture, and your heart with those pure affections on which 
alone it can thrive. 

How I pitied this poor, puny, spoiled child ! Every one, 
even the plainest of these doctrines, had been effectually 
shut out from her education. Thousands had been expended 
on teachers, books, and instruments ; but it seemed as if not 
a pennyworth of good discipline or instruction had reached 
her head or her heart. 

Amid a lively conversation on various topics, of no par- 
ticular interest, I heard one remark which startled me : — 
" New-York," said a female voice, " is a city of the greatest 
taste in America." The speaker was a milliner, who was 
on her return to a country-town, with all the latest fashions, 
and I know not how many hundreds of dollars worth of 
silks, velvets, plumes, laces, plush, ribands, and straw. She 
had been requested, as she declared, by several of the ladies 



A TALKING MILLINER. 205 

of her neighbourhood, to make inquiries about the materials, 
form, and texture of bonnets, hats, handkerchiefs, and even 
dresses and shoes. As an accidental want of some of the 
refinements of speech might have rendered her importance 
among her own society somewhat doubtful, she took the 
pains to mention names, characters, and connexions, with 
the exact nature of the commissions she bore, and a variety 
of interesting matter relating to ways and means by which 
she had been enabled to accomplish them. I might have 
wondered, 1 suppose, why so many sedate, judicious, dis- 
interested, and even literary ladies could feel so much anx- 
iety to possess such objects ; or to obtain this or that isolated 
fact or opinion from New- York milliners ; but I was aston- 
ished to learn, that the rapid narrator had met so many per- 
sons like herself in the city, bound on similar errands, and 
loaded with just such commissions, from towns and villages 
east, west, north, and south. " The improvements in naviga- 
tion," as a lady remarked, " were of great consequence ; for, 
instead of being, as formerly, two or three months behind- 
hand in the fashions, we may now wear such hats in June 
as the Parisians have in May; and so be only about four 
or five weeks behind them all the year." A very interesting 
publication, also, had been commenced some time since in 
New- York, in French and English, expressly for the diffu- 
sion of intelligence in relation to dress ; each number of 
which contains several fine-coloured engravings of costumes. 
So meritorious a work as this, and one, if possible, in ad- 
vance of the spirit of the age, would, no doubt, meet abun- 
dant support ; and v/as worthy of the broken-down French 
fancier who was to be the editor. 

Here, thought I, us I turned away from the hearing of 
such intellectual conversation, here is betrayed one of the 
cog-wheels of society. Here is one of those great counteract-i 
ing influences which cause so much waste of power in our 
machine. Whoever has turned a crank, or pulled or pushed, 
to aid the advance of public intelligence, morals, or happi* 
ness, and wonc'ered why his exertions proved of so little 
use, let him just look here. Here is enough to explain 
some part of his difficulty. Minds and hearts oa v/hich ha 



206 HUDSON RIVER. 

has wished to make impressions, he may now see, were 
otherwise employed ; money, a little of which was neces- 
sary to the accomplishment, was running out in floods 
another way ; while principles of social harmony, disinter- 
estedness, and benevolence, could not easily be cultivated, 
or even planted on ground occupied by those of an opposite 
nature. Here you will find one reason why incomes are 
not always equal to expenditures ; why libraries are so 
small ; the fireside so much deserted ; schools so few and 
so poor ; frivolity so much tolerated ; health, in a thousand 
cases, unnecessarily exposed and life sacrificed. 

But do not let me drone on so, while this is a note of the 
bagpipe which the ladies will not endure. The wives and 
daughters of fellow-citizens, of all classes, will unite, if in 
nothing else, in putting down him who assails their ears 
with such unwelcome sounds. I therefore must cease ; 
otherwise they would have no longer peace of conscience in 
refusing dollar and half dollar contributions for the comfort 
of the poor, the instruction of the ignorant, the care of the 
aged, insane, or infirm ; while they continue yearly to be- 
stow ten or an hundred times the amount on such wares of 
their milliners and mantua-makers as they know to be quite* 
unnecessary for comfort, convenience, and every thing, eX'* 
cept — fashion, 



207 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

The Privileges of American Citizens in Trial by Jury — Battle-ground 
of Saratoga — Former State of Ballston Springs — Leisure Time— 
The Beauties of the German Language — A Foreign Spirit in 
America — Value of our own Tongue. 

Seeing a court-house, certain old trains of thought 
were revived by the sight of judges on the bench, law- 
yers, witnesses, &;c. There is much that is farcical in 
the details of our democratic system, when we oome to trace 
out its familiar application to the every-day business of life. 
Why should we not sometimes enjoy the pleasure of laugh- 
ing at them, at least until it can be proved that the risibles 
of man were constructed for no good use ? We must laugh, 
— that is a settled thing ; at any rate most of us : and of 
course the only questions now to be settled must be, when, 
where, and at what shall we and shall we not laugh. Not- 
withstanding the sanctity of a court, I have felt more than 
once that the jury-box was one of the fittest places ; and as 
for the jury-room, that is a place for alternate smiles and 
tears. " All this," as the language of counsel is, " I solemnly 
believe, and pledge myself to prove to the satisfaction of 
this intelligent jury." 

I was once, while a citizen of New-York, called from 
active business to sit on a petit-jury of the Court of Sessions, 
some time in the month of December, and made one of twelve 
men selected alphabetically from the Directory. We were 
of twelve different sizes, dresses, and colours, and in every 
possible particular, except the accidental one of having simi- 
lar initial letters to our surnames, utterly impossible to be 
matched. Hudibras's various couplets of doggrel, relating 
to such scenes, began to course through my head, and over- 
came some of the disgust which would otherwise have over- 
whelmed me at the thoughts of what a day was before me. 



208 PRIVILEGES OF JURORS. 

* Gentlemen of the jury !' The other eleven rose, and I 
for an instant kept my seat. If they were gentlemen, I cer- 
tainly was not. An old beagle of an usurer was brought 
up, from one of the dark retreats of misery, to prosecute a 
pale and ragged man for the recovery of a debt. The coun- 
sel for the defence pleaded that the note was tainted with 
usury, and brought up a witness to prove it. He swore that 
the plaintiff's wife received an unlawful interest for the 
money in her husband's presence, and that this was the 
common manner in which they conducted business. We 
were filled with indignation ; and to express our reprobation 
of such an enormity, found a verdict for defendant without 
leaving our seats. We had not learned a lesson which I 
was afterward taught in an inferior tribunal ; but after re- 
ceiving a shilling a man, sighed and prepared to try a long 
case which had been long in court, and had a long tail to it. 
A question of the genuineness of certain signatures occu- 
pied us a time ; during which I was struck with two kinds 
of sagacity ; that of the bank clerks and others in judging 
of handwriting, and that of counsel in leading them to nul- 
lify their own testimony in the eye of a juryman. Several 
of the most acute of the former had previously examined 
about a dozen specimens, and fixed on a portion of them as 
genuine. Several of these had now been withdrawn, and 
recent imitations put in their place. The witnesses, in- 
cautiously perhaps, by turns, selected what each supposed 
to be genuine, while the counsel kept careful notes of their 
different opinions, distinguishing the specimens by private 
marks. The confused result, when read to us, overthrew 
the whole force of their testimony, and in my mind humau 
infallibility received a blow from which it has never recov- 
ered. This part of tlie trial was serious, and that on several 
accounts ; but when we withdrew to the jury-room, and 
were locked up together to determine on damages, I was 
compelled to laugh in the midst of my vexation. Among 
twelve men there were immediately proved to be ten of one 
opinion. Of the rest, one had slept through the whole 
trial, and the other knew no difference between the coun- 
sel's peroration and the judge's charge. It was even doubU 



SARATOGA BATTLE-GROUND. 209 

fill whether he had yet found out that we were on ' an action 
of trover:' though it had been most solemnly repeated so often 
expressly for our edification. Both of them found a fine fire 
of hard coal burning, and said, in conscience, give a ver- 
dict for plaintiff. A new-light republican, not many years 
since from England, took advantage of the occasion to open 
a debating-club, professing to have just become a little bee- 
headed on the subject ; and in spite of every thing, began 
with a regular peroration, and proceeded through an ha- 
rangue, which consumed time and patience, as the steam- 
boats consume fuel. For my part, I made reflections during 
the five hours we spent there, which I have never since re- 
peated with equal solemnity. After all, thought I, what is 
liberty, if a man is liable to be torn from business in the 
day-time, and from family and home at night, because a 
stranger in his country, five or six years ago, did commit 
forgery ; because two or three lawyers have chosen to give 
the question all possible doubtfulness ; because two out of 
twelve men have no understanding, or no honesty, or no 
warm clothing : for by this time I began to perceive a dis- 
position in the dissentients to yield their point, and observed 
that the fire had sunk, and the snow-storm had begun to 
chill the room. They soon agreed on a verdict. 

I visited the battle-ground on Bemis's Heights in com- 
pany with several friends more familiar than myself with 
the cireusmtances of the campaign of seventy-seven, and a 
guide who professed to have been in the action. The ele- 
vation of the ground is much more considerable than I had 
supposed. When we began to ascend from the bank of 
Cummingskill, the road was so narrow and steep, and often 
so much overhung by trees, as to be at once laborious and 
gloomy. The impressions were increased by the recollec- 
tion that Burgoyne's army had marched up the same path 
in the anticipation of further success, and a final victory 
over the country. The whole field of battle, then covered 
with forests, except two cleared fields, is now unincumbered 
except by a few fences and scattering trees ; and we were 
shown the line of the British, with the routes by which 
Morgan, Arnold, and our other officers assailed it at different 



210 SARATOGA BATTLE-GROUND. 

periods of the action, and with various success. I hate the 
details of slaughter, ever since I have overcome the savage 
and heathen impressions I received with my " liberal educa- 
tion." I learnt to admire them from the notes of admiration 
with which the classics abound for those notorious butchers, 
who in former times did so much business under different 
firms : — Alexander, Hannibal and Co., Csesar and brothers. 
I therefore did not regret that the battle on this ground 
amounted only to a matter of a thousand or so killed on 
both sides — a mere skirmish, in the opinion of an European. 
General Wilkinson tells facts which show, that there was 
excitement enough here to raise in some individuals the 
most barbarous and blood-thirsty spirit. 

Our guide appeared sometimes at fault, but never being 
disposed to acknowledge it, generally found a reply to every 
question. Two of the party differed about the spot on which 
General Frazer fell, and inquired of him — " Where was 
General Frazer wounded ?" — " Let me see," said he, " I 
believe in the bowels, pretty much." 

I heard the late General Van Cortlandt, a colonel in the 
New- York line, and participator in this battle, say, that he 
was not brought into action until late in the afternoon of the 
29th of September, when he was ordered by Arnold to take 
post beyond the left of our line, and engage in action or not, 
as he might judge proper. He engaged a regiment of Hes- 
sians, of whose short guns our soldiers did not think much, 
and drove them back. One of his officers was wounded by 
his side, and he placed him upon his horse. While pur- 
suing, he met a regiment of British light infantry on his 
flank, and partly in his rear, advancing and firing, but with- 
out seeing them in the darkness. He halted in a foot-path 
nearly parallel to them, about a foot lower than the surface 
of the ground, ordering his men not to fire till they should 
see the enemy's flash, and then aim a little below it. Di- 
rectly the flash was seen all along their line, the fire was im- 
mediately returned, and this checked them. He then went 
round to his officers, and ordered them to withdraw quietly, 
and returned to camp. After an engagement of an hour and 
a half, he had lost one man to every five and a half in his 



REVOLUTIONARY ANECDOTES. 211 

regiment. Colonel Cilley lost but one out of seven in five 

or six hours. 

While in the vicinity of Bemis's Heights, I was reminded 
of several anecdotes I had heard at different periods, and 
from different persons, relating to the battles here and at the 
Wallomsac, the last of which is usually called the battle of 
Bennington. What must have been the state of the country, 
when the panic caused by the desertion of Fort Ticonderoga 
was such, that although a long delay took place before 
General Burgoyne began to march from Whitehall, he met 
no opposition until he reached this spot. Exertions were 
made by the patriotic who were yet undiscouraged, to raise 
the people in arms ; but how was it to be expected that the 
militia could stop the course of an army, before which regu- 
lar troops had fled out of the principal fortress of the coun- 
try? The history of the time has been written several 
times, and narrated a thousand. I will therefore leave my 
readers to books, and only repeat two or three tales I have 
heard from private sources. Word of mouth has often a 
charm, because it conveys feeling, and that everybody can 
understand. 

" My father," said a gentleman I once conversed with, 
" lived in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, when the news 
came that the Hessians were going to seize the stores on 
the Wallamsac Creek, and all the force of the country was 
wanted. He was a hardy farmer, and well-known there- 
abouts, so that he had been chosen captain of a company of 
old men, exempt from service by age, which had been raised 
for any case of extremity. This company, which was called 
the ' Silver Grays,' in allusion to their hoary hair, set off for 
the scene of action immediately, and was on the ground on 
the morning of the battle, in time to have a part assigned 
in the attack made upon the intrenched line of the enemy. 
On account of the respectability of the company, they were 
left to choose their place ; and agreed to attack the tory 
fort, as a redoubt on an eminence was called, which had 
been entrusted to the Americans accompanying the Hessian 
troops. The captain informed his men that it was his in- 
tention to approach their object through a ravine which he 



212 REVOLUTIONARY ANECDOTES. 

observed led in that direction, to enjoy all the shelter it 
might afford. ' Captain,' said a large and powerful man, in 
the prime of life, stepping forward, pale and trembling, ' I 
am not going to fight : I came to lead back the horses. ' Go, 
then,' said the captain, with indignation ; ' we shall do better 

without a coward in our number.' — ' Deacon « ,' said 

he to a little old man, shrivelled with age, ' you are too fee- 
ble to bear the fatigues of the day. It is my pleasure that 
you stand sentry over the baggage.' 

"*With your leave, captain,' said the old man, stepping 
forward, and making the soldier's sign of respect to a su- 
perior, with as much the air of a youth as he could, — 
* With your leave I will have a pull at 'em first.' 

" The company expressed their admiration at his spirit ; 
and under the feelings it produced, succeeding as it did the 
display of arrant cowardice in a younger man, they marched 
on at quick step towards the enemy. When they reached 
the end of the ravine, the captain intended to form and at- 
tack, supposing they must yet be at some distance from the 
redoubt. Instead of this, on looking up he found himself 
almost at the base of it, and the tories taking aim at him 
from above. In an instant he lay upon the ground, a bullet 
having passed through his foot ; and a friend near him ran 
to raise him, supposing him killed. He sprang upon his 
feet, however, and just then seeing a red-coat hurrying 
across a field at a distance, a thought came into his head to 
encourage his men, and he cried out — ' Come on, they run, 
they run.' The old men climbed up, jumped into the fort, 
and in a moment the Silver Grays had complete possession 
of it, without the loss of one of their number." 

About five years ago I obtained a few facts from the late 
Colonel Ball, of Ballston, relating to the early history of the 
Springs and the neighbouring watering-place. The village 
of Ballston Spa lies within the limits of the township of 
Milton, adjoining that of Ballston. This region was 
named after the father of my informant, who removed hither 
from Westchester County, in 1769, and built the first house 
on the banks of Kayderos, or Kayderoseras Brook, the 
frame of which was standing near the academy. 



LEISURE TIME. 213 

At that time, the low grounds near the Springs of Ballston 
were covered with a forest, and the old spring (the only one 
then known) was overflown by the brook when it was much 
swollen by the rain. The deer used to come to lick at the 
spring ; and he has been there in his youth to ambush and 
shoot them. It was not uncommon then to meet deer in 
looking for stray cattle ; and the Indians often came from 
Oneida to hunt, in bodies of two or three hundred. No 
Indians, however, had their residence in this vicinity. His 
father, at an interview with Sir William Johnson, once heard 
from him the particulars of the wound which he received in 
the battle of Lake George, in 1755, which was in the front 
part of his thigh, and remained open till he died. Two 
physicians afterward recommended to Sir William to visit 
the Spring, the water being celebrated at Albany and Sche- 
nectady as good in some diseases. Sir William, therefore, 
sent about ten men to clear a road for his carriage, or litter, 
from Schenectady to the Spring, under the direction of Mr. 
Ball ; and my informant dined with him in a large marquee, 
pitched on the level border of Ballston Lake. Near the 
same place were the log-houses of two men named 
McDonald, who had settled there about seven years be- 
fore his father's arrival. The company afterward pro- 
ceeded to the Spring, where Sir William used the water, 
but without any material benefit. 

While speaking of old times, I may mention, that a few 
years ago, a small image of a man, made, I think, of bone, 
with garnets for eyes, was found near that little lake, bear- 
ing a strong resemblance in form and appearance to such as 
have been taken from some of the western mounds, accord- 
ing to Mr. Atwater, and tending to confuse us still more in 
our conjectures about the origin of the former inhabitants of 
this part of the country. 

Leisure time — here is a portion of existence which is to 
be carefully regarded and watched over, whether it belongs 
to individuals or to communities. What progress in know- 
ledge might the most humble, even the most busy person 
make in the course of his life, if he were to pursue some 
judicious plan for the occupation of his leisure moments ! 

19 



214 THE SPRINGS. 

What misery and ignorance, what sufferings and crimes 
might be prevented if provision were made in every village 
or town for the useful occupation of the unemployed time 
of those who most need some arrangements for the pur- 
pose ! 

We have often evidence presented of the great amount of 
leisure time at the command of different individuals. Look 
at the libraries of monkish manuscripts in Europe, and those 
innumerable collections of paintings, as well as the millions 
of pictures scattered through the old world, from the pencils 
of artists who laboured for the mere gratification of taste, or 
by a desperate hope borne up against every discouragement. 
Listen to, or rather think of the thousands of tales which 
are told over and over again by the populace of every coun- 
try in their intervals of labour ; and think of the wear and 
tear of tongues, and ears, and feelings required to carry on 
the tittle tattle of four or five continents. And* why the 
"busy member" is not worn out, or at least tired, is a great 
wonder. It is like the ocean, fretting rocks into pebbles, 
and grinding them to sand, with an exertion of force which 
might be employed to construct temples or pyramids. Lei- 
sure time should be first guarded against injurious employ- 
ments, and then, if possible, against those which are merely 
harmless. Let the parent and the teacher act on this simple 
principle, and he will lay a basis which must bear a noble 
structure. Even in a single day, a single individual 
may thus accomplish much ; how much more a parent with 
a company of children, or the benevolent man who can give 
a direction to society ! 

At these watering-places we meet a great variety of com- 
pany. 

It sometimes seems to me as if we begin to stray into 
some folly as soon as we begin to leave home. I have been 
listening to the remarks of a gentleman on the beauties and 
perfections of the German language ; and all I find in my 
own honest mind, as the result of his conversation, is such 
an impression as would have been left if he had openly be- 
lied our country, and concluded by preferring Iceland or 
Gulliver's Brobdignag. This is not because I am dis- 



BEAUTIES OF THE GERMAN. 215 

posed to underrate German or any other language ; but be- 
cause I liave a just esteem for English. I dare say that in 
my heart my regard for German is equal to his, nay, that I 
should value it, on the whole, more than he. 1 do not love 
Caesar less, but I love Rome more. There is a propensity 
in us, under the influence of the schools we have passed 
through, to know little of ourselves and of what belongs to 
us ; and to seek every pretext for admiring what is foreign. 
I take a part of the same condemnation to myself — I found 
it first, and have observed it most frequently, in myself. I 
am only anxious to see it cured, and do not wish to fix dis- 
credit anywhere, except so far as is necessary, when I 
would show the source of the evil. 

We begin with being required to admire beauties in Greek 
and Latin, which are of three classes : 1. Real, substantial 
ones, not found in our own language : 2. Such as exist in 
our own, and which we might far more perfectly, as well as 
easily, have comprehended in English, if they had been 
pointed out to us : 3. Defects and deformities, or false beau- 
ties ; as for instance, the frequent use of the third person 
singular for the third person plural in Greek verbs, in viola- 
tion of grammatical decency. This is peculiar to Greek, 
we are told, and there is a rule for it. There is an " ex- 
ception" for it, but no possible apology. But, whether good, 
bad, or indifferent, this is the way in which many of us have 
been educated with a contempt for the beauties of English ; 
and if we ever obtain a relish for them, it is only by the in- 
dependent use of our own minds breaking the halter of 
education. 

I was speaking of German. Like every language, it has 
its peculiarities when compared with another; but it is 
not necessarily superior in every particular, because it may 
be in some. It is unjust and injurious to admire its excel- 
lences and overlook those of English ; but it is ridiculous 
to overpraise in it exactly the qualities which we familiarly 
resort to in our own tongue, for use or embellishment in 
our discourse. But examples are most to our purpose. 
The German is susceptible of endless combinations ; so is 
the English. They may take a verb, liken gehen^ to go, I 



216 THE SPRINGS. 

was told, and by prefixing their highly-expressive pre- 
positions, vary its meaning to a great degree. And so 
refined, delicate, and cultivated is this tongue, that " shades 
of meaning" may be conveyed from mind to mind, as it were, 
" which no one can conceive who is unacquainted with this 
most perfect vehicle of thought !" Now, the very expres- 
sion of such a preposterous sentiment (so insulting, if it were 
not too ridiculous to be so), called to my mind good Eng- 
lish verbs and epithets, simple, compound, and mixed, enough 
to break its back and sink it. Indeed, the language seemed 
to be aroused to repel such a Gothic invasion ; and many 
files of our good old Saxon words mustered out, as the 
farmers did at Bennington, to fight the Hessians. There 
was especially Colonel Go and his family regiment, and I 
recognised Undergo, Overgo, Forego, with all the files of 
the Bygones, the Ingoings, and the Outgoings, and I know 
not how many more. "Ah, Captain Invade !" said I, " you 
are a good man, I may want you by-and-by to go into the 
enemy's country; but you are out of place, you do not be- 
long here." " Pardon, sir," said he ; " but I belong to the 
family. Didn't one of my grandfathers come to England 

from Rome, and marry her that was ." " True," said 

I, " you are right — Captain, or Centurion Vado ; and when 
I said go into, I but translated your name, sir." " Just so," 
said he ; " and here is my regiment — let me introduce you 
to Major Evade, and Lieutenant-colonel Pervade. I have 
not an officer or a rank and file man who is not of the 
family." " Let me see," said I, " did not your Roman an- 
cestor sometimes spell his name with a W?" "That," 
said he, " I have never been told, but I have suspected it. 
I have never heard much said about him, and have felt 
almost ashamed of him : for though he and many of his 
family had served under the Caesars, he emigrated to a bar- 
barous country. So far as I have found, one of his sons 
married an Out, and I believe this is the only one who ever 
kept both the mother's name and the W. The others, who 
spelled with a V, married into Roman families. However, 
I must look at the books of heraldry: Johnson's, and 
Walker's, and Webster's. Sergeant Wade will be good, 



THE ENGLISH, A TOLERABLE LANGUAGE. 217 

if we have shoal water to cross ; and Corporal Out wade is 
better than he." 

But the German language is said to admit of other combi- 
nations, with peculiar ease and force, (for I cannot give a 
longer report of this grand review of our numerous and 
effective troops — our great army of Vernaculars). And 
cannot we do so too ? Indeed, can we get along without 
the use of the same grammatical join-hand ? — Ecce signum ! 
How is this word join-hand made ? AVhy, just as the re- 
fined and elegant German makes its own word for glove — 
hand-schuh (hand-shoe!) 0, the inimitable splendours of 
the sublimated foreign tongues. Hand-schuh ! It is true 
we cannot say that in English for glove, but we may use 
hand-saw, hand-pump, hand-blow, hand-cloth, and many 
other combinations we find convenient, beside making it a 
verb, and changing it into handle (as a noun, an active and 
passive verb), into right and left-hand, each of which also 
may become an active or passive verb, if we please, or may 
be used after a preposition, or as an adjective : as on the 
right-hand — near the left-hand corner, &c. &;c. 

I have, perhaps, said too much on this subject ; but I 
have undergone so much in hearing our language ilUireated^ 
that I could not forego this opportunity to repel, resist, and 
throw hack a little upon the aggressors. And who can utter 
a sentence in English without admiring the rich compound 
structure of the language, or, perhaps, not less extensive 
and various than any other civilized tongue in this sort of 
combinations, when we include the Latin branches ? How 
wonderful is the range afforded us in conversation an<J 
writing; and how adapted to every purpose the familiar, 
brief, forcible, and honest Saxon words, ever giving readiest 
passage to a gush of feeling, whether raised by a witty con- 
ceit, swelled by joy, or melted by sorrow. This is a Ian-, 
guage by itself, and yet but half what we possess. There is- 
the Latin, more smooth and soft, with words of greater 
length and sweeter harmony, possessing also a plan of com-, 
binations in some respects different, and affording opportuni- 
ties for clear, though distant allusions, and derivations 
which point back to a refined source in a classic and pok 

19* 



218 THE SPRINGS. 

ished age. Then turning to Greek : how many useful and 
elegant words do we count, which stand forward in the pano- 
ply of Homer's heroes, and with voices that remind us by 
turns of the winged and the honeyed accents of ancient times, 
as well as of the brazen-throated trumpets which sounded 
before Ilium. How do these noble languages, like two fer- 
tilizing streams from the same pure and lofty fountain, 
enrich our native tongue ! Think of the fine, sonorous 
terminations which fix their golden and diamond tips on the 
noblest stanzas of our great heroic poets, and engrave them 
deeply on our hearts. Remember the abundant supply of 
prefixes with which we can grasp every verb in the lan- 
guage ; and, as if with the hand on the plough, or a gentle 
touch of the courser's rein, or the richer than silken tie 
which draws the carrier pigeon home, we can guide them 
where we will : — 

" On earth, in air, and under ground." 



CHAPTER XXVni. 

Thoughts on Foreign Travel — Dr. Sweet, the natural Bone-setter — 
Retiring Travellers. 

How rapid is the mind, and how rapid indeed is the 
tongue, although it has passed into a common remark, that 
the latter can never pretend to race with the former. Part 
of a pleasant morning spent in conversation with a friend 
who has just landed from an European tour, has taken me 
in fancy over so much ground, revived the memory of so 
many past scenes, and enriched me with so many new ideas, 
that it seems as if time had been quadrupled in duration. 
Surely travel is an enriching, an ennobling, an exalting, as 
well as a delightful employment, when properly used ; and 
my friend, I am convinced, has been successful above most 



PIETY AND FOREIGN TRAVEL. 219 

Others in making the best use of his opportunities. I saw 
him before he sailed, nay, I knew him. He had lon;^ made 
up his mind that this world is a place of passage, a thorough- 
fare to a better, abounding with enjoyments which may be- 
come sources of acute and lasting pain, and with trials 
which may be converted into joys of the most exquisite and 
lasting nature. He was a Christian, and I had seen the fact 
established by severe afflictions. Having viewed and re- 
viewed with him, in anticipation, the temptations of Europe, 
and indulged, at parting, in reliance on him who can aid and 
preserve, it was not strange that I should feel deeply inter- 
ested in every thing he saw and felt during his absence, on 
ground which I had passed over. 

Christianity has a thousand charming smiles, tones, atti- 
tudes, and actions at home : but how it strikes us to see it 
developed abroad and among foreign scenes ! Her spirit, 
fit for every climate and society, blesses all which she 
visits. It is particularly delightful to trace her course 
through a region of the earth like Italy, which has so long 
been regarded by us as devoted to the enjoyments of taste. 
Taste there appears ranged side by side with her, in scenes 
peculiarly appropriate to display her nature and to exhibit 
her superiority with advantage. AVhat a pity it is that reli- 
gion, in her unostentatious but not unfrequent visiis to that 
attractive land, should not have become more an object of 
attention to our countrymen ! If we could be furnished with 
her views and reflections among the monuments of antiquity, 
we should find that mere antiquarian knowledge has not 
equal power to render interesting the dust of past genera- 
tions, or to enlighten the gloom of decay. 

Among the numerous visiters to Italy who speak our 
language, there are annually to be found some of a most de- 
voted religious character. Some are driven by shortened 
incomes to consult economy abroad ; others go under the 
advice of physicians ; some travel to improve their minds, 
that they may become more useful to the world ; and some 
are borne in the trains of more gay or ostentatious friends, 
on whom they are dependant. But amid so many memorials 
of the past leading to contemplation, and such a flood of 



220 THE SPRINGS. 

ignorant and trifling minds devoted to the present, how in- 
teresting do such individuals appear. Whatever their age^ 
their costumes, or the motives of their journey, they are 
alike in most important respects. They regard things 
around them as they really are, not as they pretend to be ; 
they discriminate between the right and the wrong use of 
the enjoyments which are offered to them, and derive real 
happiness from things neglected by the crowd, while they 
are not disappointed by unreasonable expectations founded 
on an erroneous estimate of others. They do not of course 
underrate the importance of times that are past, because 
they regard the present as of most consequence to them- 
selves, but draw lessons from former generations to exalt 
or to purify their own thoughts and actions to-day. A young 
Christian in Italy, who thus pursues the great objects of his 
life, has to encounter obstacles and discouragements, and to 
overcome difficulties which require great decision, resolu- 
tion, and perseverance, and rapidly ripen his heart and his 
mind. Indeed, the older and more experienced, while sur- 
veying the scenes which Italy presents, feel that there 
they need peculiar watchfulness and care over their feelings, 
because external attractions are greatly increased ; while 
the external aids of Christian society are at the same time 
removed. Whatever alarms the Christian's fear, or awakens; 
his self-suspicion, tends to exhibit more clearly his Christian 
character ; and whatever removes the tarnish from such 
metal as that of which it is formed, polishes pure gold* 
Superior worth and solidity therefore begin to display them- 
selves by a surface of superior brightness, and under sucb 
circumstances real religion assumes a peculiar nobleness 
both in aspect, laaguagc, and demeanour. 

" I found, in a small circle of religious travellers at Na- 
ples," said my friend, " a new tone of manners and conver- 
sation. I was received among persons accustomed to eti- 
quette with the greatest frankness and familiarity ; and had 
never realized so strongly the force of a favourite expres-* 
sion of the New Testament : ' Where the spirit of God is, 
there is liberty.' I found access not merely to their lodg- 
ings and their acquaintance, but to their hearts. And the 



PIETY AND FOREIGN TRAVEL. 221 

formalities of fashionable intercourse, with all the falsehood 
of selfishness, being discarded, it was delightful to observe 
how the mind made progress in knowledge, while the heart 
found full exercise for its affections. Less swayed than 
other travellers in matters of taste, by current ideas, their 
opinions of scenes and objects in nature and art were gen- 
erally more just, because more independent; while their 
impressions were more distinct, and their descriptions more 
vivid. In relation to men, also, they had generally some- 
thing new and valuable to communicate : for having their 
attention directed after what has merit, or to discover per- 
sons on whom they might confer benefits, they were often 
found to have observed characters which others pass by 
without heeding. False opinions are abundant all around 
them, and are so much in vogue, that some will receive and 
pass them off as sound, for mere fashion's sake ; but they 
feel like Bunyan's pilgrims hi Vanity Fair ; and when such 
wares are offered them, are ready to reject them and to ex- 
claim, — ' We buy the truth.'" 

What a contrast, what a delightful contrast it seems, after 
witnessing the gaudy and pompous, but unmeaning cere- 
monies of a Neapolitan carnival, or having the hermit of the 
grotto of Posilipo shake his box of coppers at you, to close 
the day with a circle of Christian friends, where the fire of 
the purest love consumes all memory of difference in sect 
and country, among those who possess one faith and one 
hope. 

The different ways in which persons of exalted character 
are affected by foreign travel are often various, but almost 
always important. One receives an impression, from the 
majesty of some ruin, of the transitory nature of life ; while 
his companion is reproved by it for the little he has accom- 
plished. Some have made the people, whom they have seen 
degraded to the dust, the subjects of their daily prayers ; 
while others have been filled with the idea that America 
possesses incalculable advantages for establishing a name 
and a praise in the earth. One will ever after regard in a 
more important light all the means by which intelligence is 
diffused, and fix much of his attention for the remainder of 



/ 

222 THE SPRINGS. 

his life on the minds and hearts of the young, and the books, 
the examples, and schools by which they are to be edu- 
cated ; while to another will afterward seem ever present 
those powerful motives to action, which are excited by the 
contemplation of heathen magnificence among the unmean- 
ing splendour with which a degenerate taste endeavours to 
eclipse it. 

Nothing is pleasanter than to meet with a person of true 
piety, who has returned from a foreign tour, with such im- 
pressions as we must expect them to bring home, when their 
circumstances have been favourable for receiving them. Ig- 
norance of foreign languages and habits, too rapid travel- 
ling, or infirm health, may prevent them ; but if circumstances 
have been favourable, you may see a gratifying change in 
them, and every thing they can control around. One such 
person will spice the conversation of a whole neighbour- 
hood, and sometimes turn the minds of hundreds into better 
channels. His library is placed on a new footing, he re- 
views and improves some of his old opinions, he looks upon 
things about him with new eyes, for even trivial affairs re- 
mind him of great duties heretofore underrated. The trav- 
eller, perhaps, who passes the residence of such a man, 
even years after his death, admires some institution for 
public benefit which owes its origin to his piety and his 
foreign tour. 

Many persons have probably seen in the newspapers ad- 
vertisements of " Dr. Sweet, — Natural Bone-setter." It is 
not everybody who has met him, or any of his remarkable 
family. How many there are of the name, or how many 
there have been famed for peculiar skill in anatomy, I have 
not been able to ascertain, because there is uncertainty and 
some discrepancy among the family traditions. One account 
I have heard, says, that the ancestor of the American Sweets 
was a celebrated surgeon to the king, regularly bred to the 
profession in England, but disaffected on some account, and 
a voluntary exile to the colonies, who chose one of the islands 
in Providence River, in Rhode-Island, for his abode. There, 
devoting himself to the education of his children, he taught 
them the principles of his own science, which they after- 



A NATURAL BONE-SETTER. 223 

wards made a study by means of his library. From this 
beginning, the family are said to have had a strong propen- 
sity to anatomy ; and for several generations, if we might 
credit report, individuals of both sexes have often amused 
themselves in childhood with dislocating the joints of kittens 
and chickens, and setting them again ; and more humanely, 
in mature life, while engaged in the labours of the field or 
workshop, by reducing displaced bones to their sockets for 
miles around, and for prices so low that the mere mention 
of them has often excited the patient's laughter. The pro- 
duction of this latter symptom is perhaps the most extra- 
ordinary fact relating to their practice, and gives them a 
double claim to their surname. 

The individual of this family whom I met with this sea- 
son, was of a diiferent branch, and had only the following 
account to give of his history. " The Sweets, I believe, have 
always been bone-setters from before the memory of man. 
It's a natural gift, for wise purposes bestowed, and should 
be employed with a proper sense of dependance. My father 
was a physician, and the first surgical operation I ever at- 
tempted was at fourteen years of age, when I reduced a 
dislocated thumb for a patient who applied for aid during 
the absence of my father. After this I felt somewhat bold, 
and made a number of successful experiments, studying 
such scientific books as I could obtain. I believe the skill 
I have is in a great measure a natural gift, and that I am 
accountable for the' use of it. I have set a good many poor 
people's bones for nothing ; but I calculate to make the rich 
pay for it, though not very exorbitantly." 

" Well, doctor," said a man who recognised him, " how 
do you find them at the South ? You've been to the South 
lately, haven't you ?" 

" Why, yes, I was down into the State of New-Jersey, 
and in Pennsylvania some : — why, a good many lame hips, 
and so on." 

" Well, did you go among the broken bones in New- 
York T 

" Yes, I find, wherever I go the second time, that they get 
new bones out about as fast as I put 'em in, so as to keep 



224 THE SPRINGS. 

me to work. But I like it well enough as long as the floors 
don't break down. When I was at Danbury, in Connecti« 
cut, they'd got wind of my coming, and collected all the 
sufferers they could find in the neighbourhood into one 
room. It was up stairs, over a hatter's shop; about fifty 
men were assembled there together, full half of them, as 
was said, being patients, and the rest spectators. The 
doctors had come to see me work ; for they didn't believe I 
could do any thing or knew any thing. Well, as there was 
a good deal of work to be done, and no time to spare, I ad- 
vanced to a man in the corner that had his shoulder out, 
and had been pronounced incurable. I took hold on it and 
set it, and told him to put on his hat, which he did ; and this 
elated him so much that he began to whirl his arm round 
for joy, and to show how well he felt, right before the doctors 
and all, when I began to feel the floor sway away under 
me, and down we all went into a heap, maimed ones and 
all. I slid and fell, as we reckoned afterward, about twenty- 
seven foot, and got up among the rest in the hatter's shop. 
What was wonderful about it was, that though the floor set- 
tled down principally at one corner, while the opposite one 
didn't give way, it held together, and so kept us out of the 
hatter's kettles, which were full of hot water ; and though a 
large square cast-iron stove fell down among us, it didn't 
hurt anybody. There were only three or four bones put 
out by the accident ; and when I had set these and the old 
ones, hips, shoulders, elbows, and all, I had to set off for 
another town, where I had an engagement to do more work 
of the like nature. They had a proper laugh at the doctors 
at Danbury, telling them they had set the trap to kill me ; 
but I told them that if they had known the danger, they 
would not have put their own heads into it." 

There is a class of single gentlemen found among the 
great swarms of travellers which every year pass over our 
country, who seem to be ever in search of solitude and 
tranquillity, as much as others are for crowds and tumults ; 
and who, although they are often borne along by the cur- 
rent, actually enjoy many hours of loneliness. They are 
generally individuals who have had more than common ex- 



MODEST TtlAVEtLERS. 225 

perience in ihe world, and yet through the influence of good 
education or good early examples, have a taste that seeks 
something superior to its follies. Their previous life has ren- 
dered them thoughtful without souring their tempers, and dis- 
posed them to shun rather than condemn the society they 
cannot approve. I speak not here of the solitude which re* 
tires to its chamber, and when it has shut the door, re*- 
proaches Providence for embittering what discontent re* 
fuses to enjoy. Those of whom I speak are found on the 
hill-tops at sunrise, in a sultry hour among the shady rocks 
and wilds, or meditating in the fields at eventide. 

Isaac Walton describes your true angler as very humane 
and friendly. He and his anglers were drawn from persons 
of this class. It is not angling they seek, — it is the enjoy* 
ment of solitude, or rather the society of nature ; and the 
fishing-rod is only an apology for staying from home by the 
day or the week. We are to blame for rendering field- 
sports in some measure necessary to many persons of in* 
telligence,, taste, and leisure. We ought not to reproach 
them for being found in solitary scenes, even though they 
are unarmed with guns or fishing-tackle. As it is not law- 
ful to kill the inferior animals for sport, but as it is perfectly 
proper and indeed useful to frequent our wild scenes, and 
to enjoy the beauties of nature, we ought to furnish the 
fairest and finest with things necessary to comfort and con* 
venience, and rather approve than despise those who select 
them for reading or meditation. To no unknown individual 
in Italy do I feel more obligedj than to him who constructed 
a rustic seat on the tall rocks opposite the falls of Terni, 
thatched it with boughs and cushioned it with leaves ; and 
no example should I sooner recommend to the friend of that 
class of travellers of which I am speaking. Their choice 
of the retreats of the forest and shore, as I remarked, is 
owing to their love for the spots where the fish and the 
birds resort, and not to the love of slaughter, although there 
are persons of a different character who delight only in the 
shedding of blood. 

These tasteful travellers may be distinguished from the 
common herd by an experienced eye. They keep, as it 

20 



226 THE SPRINGS. 

were, along the green margin of the road, while they pur- 
sue its general course ; they wander a little up the cool 
valleys and streams that open to the right and left, and the 
shade of the trees and the dashing of water are for them. 
While others, perhaps, of their own party, are complaining 
of coarse food and hard couches, their appetites are sharp- 
ened by exercise, or they are enjoying refreshing slumbers 
in a green shade. 

I was a visiter in a Louse when the family returned from 
their annual tour ; and from their conversation found, that 
while some of the individuals brought back only records of 
wasted time, and the observations of the most common 
minds, as barren as the beaten roads they had passed over, 
others had come home with a store of recollections, which 
might serve, like a hortus siccus, or a well-filled sketch- 
book, for the gratification of themselves and their friends 
for a year to come, and the value of which might last for a 
much longer period. 

So many of us are brought up unfit for the world we live 
in, that a great part of society, in their pursuit of happiness, 
seem to spend life either in seeking for the knowledge they 
ought to have imbibed in youth, or amid the frivolities or 
the vices which are its only substitutes. This appears to 
be a general picture of society among us. We do not 
strongly realize the fact unless we travel ; and then we find 
our own minds and those of our companions betraying at every 
step some strong evidence of deficiency. I sat in an elegant 
railroad-car, with a large company of travellers, several of 
whom were unknown to me. Why were we silent after a 
few remarks on indiff'erent topics ? Because we were igno- 
rant. When we had seated ourselves at the dinner-table, 
however, there was no lack of conversation or of cheerful- 
ness ; and 1 presume the chief part of the pleasure enjoyed 
by the party that day was during the time devoted to eating. 
There we were at home. Ah ! how much of the enjoyment 
of home then, with the mass of people, are we to fear, is 
connected with a source not more exalted? Some of us 
had been curious to know some simple facts concerning dif- 
ferent objects around, but either presumed on the ignorance 



PAGAN EDUCATION. 227 

of our companions, or feared to expose our own by making 
them subjects of conversation; and so we jogged on in silence, 
as truly travellers as the horses which drew us along, and 
doing what only fashion saves from ridicule : that is, 
coursing over the country without definite object, and with- 
out the least chance of intellectual improvement. On reach- 
ing the place where we were to separate, I felt so much 
ashamed of my companions, that I was determined to avoid 
bidding any of them farewell : but I found they had appa- 
rently formed the same resolution about me, and thought 
me, as I appeared, and as I greatly fear I am, as great a 
dunce at travelling as any of them. 

Oh, had I been taught, in my childhood, what I so much 
desired to know, the names, nature, and uses of the trees 
and plants by which we passed that day, or the composition 
of the soils which produced them, or a little of the princi- 
ples of engineering to understand the constructions and exca- 
vations of the railroad, or been informed of the history, pro- 
ducts, or inhabitants of that part of the country in such a 
manner as to feel an interest in them ; or had any of my 
companions come so furnished with materials for conversa« 
lion, that day had not been the source of pain rather thai\ 
of pleasure, nor have become the cause of so much self-* 
condemnation. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Evil effects of Pagan Education in a Christian Land — Improvements 
in Temperance — Sources of intemperate Habits in our Country — > 
Proper Estimation of Foreign Travel — Our own Moral and Physi- 
cal Resources — Negligence of good Men in making Travels at 
home Pleasing and Useful — A Card-party in a Steamboat. 

I CAN hardly read a prospectus of a new academy, or see 
the advertisement of a college, without being reminded in a 
painful manner of the perversions practised in my owa edii-^ 



228 THE SPRINGS. 

cation. Truly I was led by a thorny, a crooked, and a dan- 
gerous way ! Why I did not turn back, and run out of that 
mud road, I can hardly tell. I remember I was strongly 
tempted, when I found some of my favourite companions de- 
serting it one after another, and saw the grassy walks 
of agriculture, and the sparkling paths of business some- 
times offering strong attractions. It is high time that we 
should realize that certain sorts of knowledge may pervert 
the heart while they fill the head. Look at history, for ex- 
ample, and remember, that not we, but some of the worst 
men of heathen times are in fact, at this moment, teaching 
our children their own views of past events, in our own 
schools and under our own eyes. Do we not put the classi- 
cal writers in the place of schoolmasters and parents, and 
make the young admire what they commend? And whose 
views do the ancient writers maintain ? All of them the 
views of heathenism ; and not a few of them are mere 
echoes of the selfish or profligate rulers who patronised 
them to secure their praise, and dictated what they shouM 
withhold, what record, and what pervert. Ought not such 
pernicious influences at least to be counteracted? Ought 
not the teacher who enlarges on the beauties of Virgil and 
Caesar, Ovid and Horace, to condemn the principles and 
motives they so often applaud, and correct the erroneous 
ideas which the pupil must otherwise imbibe ? Some view 
or other is to be taken of history by every one who reads. 
There is a right and there is a wrong view, and they are 
totally inconsistent with each other. The splendours of 
Greek and Roman heroes long absorbed my mind ; and for 
years I had no taste for the view of history given by the 
Scriptures. The superintending power of the Creator was 
not present to my mind when I read of Juno and Jupiter, 
the Fates and Fortune. It has cost me long and violent 
struggles to divest myself of the taste, as well as of some 
of the views, which I imbijbed from my education at a granj'- 
mar-school and college. 

But now, how subHme as well as how lovely is the aspect 
which history presents ! Miserable, undefined Fortune has 
l)«en banished,, and pains my heart n.p longer with the gloomy 



TEMPERANCF. 229 

reflection that the disposer of my lot is blindfolded; while 
the God of Abraham presides over the destinies of rr.an> 
whose interests are as important as they were in past ages, 
and none more so than my own. I am now able to enjoy 
greater pleasure in contemplating nations at peace, and ob- 
serving the progress of refinement, than I ever derived from 
the confused noise of the warrior and garments rolled in 
blood. Just and delightful pictures of peace and its bless- 
ings we find in the Scriptures, and war we see in its owrt 
deformity. Then let us not pr.^sc:U scenes of carnage and 
barbarity, of pollution and crime, to our children, at least 
without removing a part of that false veil which heathen 
poets and historians have spread over them. If our parents 
and teachers had taug-lit us less of strife and the deliohts of 
victory, certain it is they would have had less difficulty in- 
governing us, and we less in controlling ourselves. 

There is one continual source of pleasure to the traveller 
in our country, let his course be turned in almost any direc- 
tion : that is, the evident decline of intemperance. Even 
when I have been passing through places with which I was 
kast acquainted, the evidences 1 have found of the diminu- 
tion of this evil have seemed like springs in the wilderness;, 
but in regions which I had known in less favourable times, 
the changes are so evident and so numerous as to excite 
great pleasure, I hope not unmingled with gratitude to Hiiiv 
who has said to the flood of devastation, " Here shall thy 
proud waves be stayed." How many a pang of keen sym- 
pathetic misery have I been spared on my tour, by the par- 
tial scotching of that serpent, that infernal demon, which- 
was so lately ranging unchecked through our country T 
How bkssed is the deliverance from such a monster! It 
is with anguish now that I recall the days when I- so often^ 
dreaded to inquire, in a family circle, or in- a public festival^ 
for some one I missed from his place^ lest the mention of: 
his name should v/rest from tortured lips a confession that? 
would scorch the cheeks and scarify the heart. 

The late prevalence of intemperance- 1 trace in part to the • 
broad foundations laid in the times preceding our own*... 
The close of the war left the country in an immoral GOiSf- 



THE SPr:i?«G5. 

dition. The disbanding of the army converted oar villages 
almost into camps, so far as the habits of men were con- 
cerned ; and the vicious practices of soldiers co-operating 
with the desultory employment of leisure tiuie, which is natu- 
rally produced by a long period of war and public calamities, 
stamped a low character upon society through a great part 
of the country. Public calamities had proved fatal, m a thou- 
sand instances, to private fortunes ; and many of those per- 
sons, who might otherwise have possessed the means of ob- 
taining an education, were cut off from it by poverty, or by the 
prolonged depreciation of learning in the public estimation., 
Gunpowder, bayonets, soldiers, and military skill were ob- 
jects of praise and admiration ; and as taste and literature 
could not purchase these, they were but lightly esteemed. 
Of course, peace found the country abounding in many young 
and empty heads, and, what was worse, with morals corrupt 
beyond their years. It was the tendency of such a state of 
things to honour the tavern and to break up the family cir- 
cle ; and in many a town and village the former was the 
great resort of fathers and sons, while the mothers were too 
often left to solitary regret and tears among the brokea 
fragments of the latter. Who does not remember some- 
thing of such a state of society? Who, at least, has not 
perceived traces of it in the Bacchanalian stories, and 
the tales of village wit, whose narration to a later generation 
has often served to depict the tavern in colours and asso- 
ciations too attractive to the children of a reformed or so- 
bered father? To the discredit of a state of society now 
fast wearing out of fashion, a large part of our traditionary 
narratives and humour, and sketches of local biography, are 
mingled with the oaths and intoxication of the inn,, or the 
more dangerous language and examples of fa&hionable 
dinner-parties, and drinking bouts in city life. 

I know a large town, now distinguished for its orderly as 
well as intelligent and refined society, in which, forty years 
ago, or even less, social evening parties among parents of 
both sexes, were unknown ; and where a father of a family, 
who set the example of assisting to entertain the female 
visiters of his wife, had to bear the brunt of all the tavern-. 



PLEASURES OF CANAL TRAVELLING. 231 

haunters of the place, that is, of all the fathers of his ac- 
quaintance, as a bold and preposterous innovator. Such a 
fact will hardly be credited ; but those who can recollect 
some years back, will be forced to admit its probability. 

In times like those was planted the habit of intemper- 
ance, I might rather say the fashion of intoxication : that 
bitter root which has yielded such deadly fruit, and has 
been now, at last, partly plucked up with such difficulty. 

Let us not overrate the importance of a tour in Europe, 
so much as to lose our relish for the enjoyments offered us 
by a journey at home. " And what are these enjoyments T' 
asked I of myself, as I seated myself a little before sunrise 
on the deck of a common freight-boai, on the Champlain 
Canal, and prepared to set off" for a visit to the next village. 
Certainly, thought I, as I inhaled the fresh air, and heard the 
birds begin to chirp at waking, finer dewy mornings or a 
purer ether can nowhere be found than what our own hills 
and valleys afford. Yet nothing is less known, scarcely 
any thing is more seldom enjoyed, by those of our country- 
men who talk most of the beauties of nature in Scotland or 
Italy. " Of all scenes in the world," exclaims Americas 
Frenchificatus, " nothing can compare with sunrise on the 
Alps !" Of course, this personage, who had returned from 
a voyage, enriched with half a dozen mispronounced French 
words and a pair of moustaches, claimed to indulge in a 
foreign rapture as he pronounced this exclamation. — 
" But, my good sir, have you ever seen a sunrise in the 
White Mountains of New-Hampshire ?" — " No." — " Have 
you ever seen one in any part of America?" — "No: — they 
are not fit to be seen." — " And you, I suppose, are fit to 
judge of them ?" And who is not like this gentleman, if not 
in foreign polish, in his contempt for home, and in foolish, 
degenerate, luxurious habits ? The hotel I had left was 
full of travellers, yet I alone had opened my eyes to the 
finest part of the day, and my lungs to the purest air. 

The boat, though rough and offering no accommodations, 
in the mean lime had been sliding smoothly over the shining 
surface of the canal, and had brought me into a beautiful 
grove of forest trees, whose numberless stems, like the in- 



232 CANAL EXCURSION. 

numerable columns of some extensive temple, were faith- 
fully reflected below, while their thick canopy of foliage also 
appeared repeated apparently from an immense depth, so 
true was the mirror over which they hung. Why, I asked 
myself, is travelling on our canals considered so wearisome 
and destitute of interest ? Here are noble productions of 
nature multiplied around, silence and solitude undisturbed 
by the rattling of wheels, and perfumed air unmingled with 
rising dust. Our canals often introduce us to the hearts 
of the forests; the retreats of wild animals are air ost ex- 
posed to our view, and the nests even of rare birc s hang 
over our heads. How can the public, how can some of my 
friends most distinguished for taste, prefer the crowded 
stage-coach, the dusty and thickly inhabited road, with the 
heat of the sun during a midday ride ? Alas ! a little reflec- 
tion reminded me that our education does not prepare us for 
the enjoyment of scenes like those through which I was 
passing. Who knows the nature and uses of this fine tree ; 
who can tell the varieties of this ; how few, indeed, are there 
amonof men of education who can discriminate between 
many plants of marked and even opposite peculiarities ! 
WJth the exception of those practical men whose busi- 
ness introduces them to such things, few have taken the 
pains to inquire at all into the important study of botany; 
and as for zoology, ornithology, &c., still less are they 
known, though the forests and fields are stocked with various 
birds and quadrupeds. The frivolities of life devour ten 
times the amount of hours which would be sufiicient to give 
the young such knowledge of these and other subjects as 
would render them capable of deriving enjoyment and benefit 
from travelling. What more natural and easy, than to lead 
children into the garden or the field every day, teach them 
to observe leaves and flowers, fruits and seeds, animals and 
birds, and relate or read to them sketches of their nature and 
history? But, no! The father is too fond of his money- 
making, his wine, or his politics ; and the mother of her 
dresses, parties, or novel-reading. And unfortunately such 
habits are by no means confined to the more frivolous of 
society. 



DUTIES OF TRAVELLERS. 233 

How easy would it be for parents to teach their children, 
as one of my fellow-travellers taught me. Seating himself 
by my side, he remarked on the peculiarities of the various 
species of trees we passed on our way, touching upon their 
size, soils, uses, ages, modes of propagation, and capacity 
for improvement, the value which some of them would bear 
in otlier countries, the superiority of some of the species 
known in different climates, &c. &c. ; until my mind was 
filled with admiration at the vast and interesting variety pre- 
sented by the subject, and with respect for one whose mem- 
ory was stored with such valuable facts, and who was dis- 
posed to communicate them. 

It may be set down as one of the crying sins of this coun- 
try, that good and intelligent men refuse to acknowledge 
their duties to the public. Whether at home or abroad, 
most of them seem to think there is no virtue in the world 
but modesty; and under her broad mantle, I fear they some- 
times hide their indolence, private taste, personal vanity, and 
what not. Now, to say nothing of the modes in which 
Lawyer Loveall, Dr. Dogood, Judge Generous, Mr. Good- 
neighbour, Farmer Friendly, and other characters of the 
like nature, some, if not all of whom we find in every vil- 
lage and town, might contribute to the gratification, instruc- 
tion and improvement of their own circles at home, why 
should they be so insensible of the claims which society 
has upon them when they go abroad ? Put them, as 
strangers, into a steamboat's cabin, or a stage-coach, a 
canal packet, or a railroad-car, and they are as silent and 
timid as mice. They do not feel the superior power and 
respectability of virtue or knowledge, nor realize that it is 
their business to appear as their advocates, by exhibiting 
them in their own proper nature. They do not seize an 
early opportunity to use language and express sentiments 
which shall betray their own characters, but generally leave 
it to others to give a tone to conversation which sometimes 
becomes annoying to them, while it is useless or worse than 
useless to the company. I have often seen the young or the 
ignorant, or such as were comparatively so, court the con- 
versation of those whose respectable appearance promised 



234 CANAL BOAT. 

something superior to themselves in mind or in heart ; and 
have observed with pain that the privilege has been too 
often denied. I have seen men of distinction, accidentally 
discovered by fellow-travellers, and treated with respect and 
deference, yet disposed either to be personally flattered, or 
to affect cold indifference — too seldom, at least, showing a 
philanthropic desire to make every advantage subservient to 
the benefit of others. In short, I am persuaded that one 
great reason why there is so much that is frivolous among 
travelling parties, and why there is any thing offensive, 
is, that those whose duty it is to prevent it are too indif- 
ferent about their obligations, or neglect to seek proper op- 
portunities and means. 

Many persons meet on their travels who have little leisure 
or opportunity elsewhere to devote to the society of strangers ; 
and to some of these such interviews have proved highly 
gratifying and permanently beneficial. But many a ride or 
excursion has been rendered irksome by a general silence 
among fellow-travellers, or the want of that refinement of 
manners and conversation which ought to have existed. I 
know that there are subjects, very excellent in themselves, 
which would be inappropriate for topics in a mixed com- 
pany; and that those most forward are often the most con- 
ceited and shallow-minded of their party. But I am favour- 
ing a just medium. I can, perhaps, show something of my 
meaning by a real case. 

Cards were once called far on board of a boat, where 
none objecting, a party or two sat down at whist, who filled 
the cabin with their voices for a couple of hours. For want 
of a timely word of disapprobation from a few of us present, 
which would have sufficed, we were condemned to listen a 
long time to such things as the following ; and were after- 
ward annoyed by the effects of the liquor, to which the 
game conducted some of the players. 

" I've won two hands of Mr. Jones." 

" Ah ! so you have." 

*' That'll answer. That's one over — I've a mind to let 
that fellow be. We want four to begin with — six round." 

" Now, look, hold on your hair !" 



CARD PARTY. 235 

■ " Ah ! I think I'll stand that, sir." 

"It's astonishing! eleven, eight, thirteen; I never saw 
such dealing !" 

" After this hand — " 

" Bless my stars !" 
; *'Cut'em." 

** What do you say!'* 
! « Cut 'em !" 

« That's over." 

■ " Now I want a ten." 

" Mr. Jones, advise 'em." 

" Ten, there's twenty, dub, dub, dub ; hold on to that !" 

" I, O, U — come, lay your hands there — plaguy luck 
as ever anybody had !" 

" You a notion of turning in, captain ?" 

" What say T 

" Notion of turnin' in ?" 

" No, not yet." 

" Well, I think I shall have to pretty soon." 

" Ha, ha, ha ! We begin to feel dreadfully here ! 
Twenty : — -four, ten and four is fourteen, and six is twenty, 
sir." 

" Play up all round !" 

" How's that r 

" O, if I could have got ten then I" 

" We're entitled to the deal !" 

"Ten! ha, ha!" 

" Cut 'em again — go ahead — split 'em — that's right." 

" Now, if I can get an ace — fourteen." 

" Give us one apiece." 

" Give me a couple apiece." 

"Hold on — there we are — play up — that helps the 
bank." 

" I hope luck won't go against me all the time." 

" Who's got a good hand ? Them that ha'n't, say so.'* 

" Eighteen, nineteen, play twenty." 

" Hold on — hold on — what have you got now ?" 

" Give me a fish." 



236 WHITEHALL. 

" Stop, Stop, Stop !" 

" Tliat's right, sir, a small one." 

" Here 'tis again — sixteen I want to find ; hold still — " 

" Give us a fish." 

" My next deal." 

" There's your two fish." 

" I commence to deal there." 

« Stop !" 

" Turn 'em right over." 

"We are three, sir." 

" Take 'em — that's right." 

" Yes." 

" What do you want ?" 

« One." 

" Let her lay — take one of them from the pack." 

" That'll be too much." 

" I'll bet he don't get it." 

" I'll bet he don't too." 

« Well, I'll bet he duz.'' 



CHAPTER XXX. 

Whitehall— Story of Sergeant Tom, a Creature of the Revolution — 
Lake George-— Charming Scenery, and interesting Historical Asso- 
ciations — Ticonderoga— ^A Revolutionary Tradition — An Oracle of 
Philology — Crown Point, 

Whitehall, formerly Skeenesborough, which is in this 
vicinity, is associated in ray mind with the career of a wild, 
hair-brained fellow, who joined the American army at the 
breaking out of the Revolution, by the persuasion of an act- 
ive officer, from whom I once received a sketch of his mili- 
tary course. A sergeancy was obtained for Tom, but he had 
not been long in the exercise of it, when his friend the 
colonel, arriving at the camp at Skeenesborough, where he 



SERGEANT TOM. 237 

was, found him degraded to a private sentry. By his exer- 
tions he got him reinstated ; and knowing his wild temper, 
cautioned him against getting into any quarrel with the 
soldiers, or the major, even if they should call him a broken 
sergeant, as he apprehended. But this was all in vain. 
The next afternoon news came that Tom was in the guard- 
house. On inquiry, he learned that he had flogged the sol- 
diers and cleared them out of the tent, and threatened to 
kill the major. Tom had sent for the colonel to see him ; 
but this he refused, though he felt bound, out of regard to 
his family, to exert himself in his behalf. 

The squadron was then fitting out on the lake, under 
Arnold, to oppose the British ; and with great exertions the 
colonel prevailed upon Tom's captain, major, and general, 
to let him oif without a court-martial, on condition that he 
should enlist on board a ship. Tom had been a sailor, and 
cheerfully accepted the proposition, expressing the warmest 
gratitude to his friend, to whom he attributed his escape ; 
and solemnly swore to serve him whenever he could, even 
at the risk of his life. Although the colonel believed him 
to be entirely devoid of principle, he placed implicit reliance 
in this solemn and voluntary promise, as he was susceptible 
of gratitude. 

The galley in which Tom served as sergeant of marines, 
in the battle off Crown Point, fought the English flag-vessel, 
side by side, with great vigour. Tom, at length finding all 
the officers above him wounded, fought her himself, until 
his galley was found to be in a sinking condition. One of 
our commanders came up, received him on board, gave him 
a conspicuous part the rest of the day, and honoured him 
with peculiar marks of approbation. Tom, however, was 
not long on shore before he deserted, and joined the British 
army in Canada. An expedition was proposed to surprise 
Ballston, then a frontier town, and Tom was offered a large 
reward to join it. This he refused, alleging that it was the 
residence of his father ; but partly, no doubt, because his 
benefactor also lived there. Finding, however, that the 
expedition would proceed, he joined it, that he might be- 
friend him ; and performed important service in secret, to 

21 



238 LAKE GEORGE. 

which my informant considered himself indebted for liberty, 
if not for life. The details are interesting : but I cannot 
stay to write them now. 

The first glimpse I caught of Lake George satisfied me 
that my expectations would be almost equalled ; for I had 
heard it described in such glowing terms in my boyhood, 
that the conception I entertained of its beauties were un- 
doubtedly romantic and extravagant, as I had before had 
occasion to reflect. If the breadth of a lake be too great, 
or its shores too low, there must be a want of bold features 
on the margin. A large level surface is sublime ; but we 
soon feel a want of variety. A more limited plain is often 
beautiful ; but it is necessarily insipid if alone ; and a sheet 
of water particularly requires contrasts to relieve the satiety 
which the mind feels in contemplating it. The Lake of 
Geneva would be greatly improved in beauty, if a few of 
the eminences which stand at the distance of several miles 
could be planted upon its very banks. 

'Lake George lies in contact with the mountains, whose 
bases are washed by its pure waters, while its summits 
hasten to their terminations just above. I had inspected 
some manuscript military maps of the French war in this 
vicinity, so that I soon caught some of the zigzags of Mont- 
calm's lines of approach to Fort William Henry (which, 
alas ! is now an insignificant heap on the shore), and fixed 
on the thick grove on my left, which shades the grave of 
about one thousand of his men. On the right, swelling from 
the head of the lake, was the elevation crowned by Fort 
George, long in ruins, and in 1745 the scene of General 
Pieskau's defeat, before a breastwork of logs. Along the 
waste ground in the little valley this side, was perpetrated 
the massacre of the soldiers, women, and children from 
Fort William Henry, by Indians. The sky suddenly grew 
dark as I approached the pretty village of Caldwell, and a 
thunder-shower passed just before us, obscuring for a few 
minutes the fields and dwellings ; and then passing slowly 
down the lake, whither it bore off" a brilliant rainbow on its 
bosom. The beauty of the scene, from my window, in the 
rear of the hotel, I would fain describe, especially as it ap- 



A PHILOLOGIST. 239 

peared near sunset, when the broad and green slope to 
the margin of the clear water was striped with the long 
shadows of trees and mountains, and the surface of the lake 
was calm, and the opposite ridge of French Mountain raised 
its immense curtain of foliage, as it were, perpendicularly 
to the clouds. 

In this place a very different excitement seems to affect 
the visiters from that which is felt at the Springs, where 
there is no scenery to draw off the thoughts from ourselves 
and each other. The conversation at table seemed im- 
proved, and the various parties had a variety of objects be- 
fore them for the day : walks, rides, and boat parties, to visit 
the forts or to make an excursion to Tea Island. One 
would hardly think that the house could be much visited in 
the winter season ; but I found some of the family speaking 
familiarly of Montreal and its inhabitants, who, I learned, 
often come down in parties in sleighs. 

I had several strolls along the shore on both sides of the 
lake near Ticonderoga, traced out the old French lines on 
which General Abercrombie's army made so ridiculous an 
attack in 1758, and climbed to the redoubts on Mount Inde- 
pendence. It is melancholy to renew the impressions which 
must have been made by the aspect of these hills and head- 
lands, these woods and waters, at night, when, after General 
St. Clair had ordered the evacuation of the fortress and the 
retreat of the troops, the sudden bursting out of a fire in a 
building at the foot of Mount Independence illuminated the 
scene, betrayed the motions of the Americans, and awakened 
the fire of their enemies. 

There is an extensive, wild, and mountainous region north 
and west from this spot, where there are hardly any inhabit- 
ants, except the beasts of the forests. I heard, in a log- 
house, some exciting tales told about deer-hunting ; and on 
a warm afternoon, I heard an old man talk in the following 
strain, as he was sitting in the sun, surrounded by several 
bantering farmers' sons : — 

" You are a stranger, sir, I presume, and perhaps don't 
know me nor my family. That's the way with the world : 
these boys that have grown up don't know but what thei? 



240 LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

fathers were as respectable as mine. I've not done right ; 
that I'm willing to allow. But I an't so bad as Bill. He 
got to drinking too much a good many years ago, and 
learned to fiddle, and used to leave home sometimes, and 
go off round to dances, and so on. But he had as good 
a wife as ever was, and he's reformed, and so am I. I've 
come across the lake to help at harvesting, and get some 
wool and carry back for the children to card up, and then 
we'll have it spun and made into something warm for 'em 
next winter. These women-folks they are the master-crit- 
turs for such things. They'll sit and card and talk, and 
get a wonderful deal done. But education is a great thing, 
and we can't get it over there among the mountains where 
there an't nobody five miles back from the lake. It's a 
curious country there, there's so many ponds. There's 
Long Pond, and Square Pond, Goose Pond, and Crane 
Lake, and Paradox Pond, and Pyramid Lake, and — that's 
all, I believe. Well, now there an't nobody but me that 
lives anywhere about here, that knows how these ponds 
got their names." 

" Well, do you know, Uncle Zeek ?" asked one of the 
company. 

" Why, yes ; there's Long Pond and Square Pond, they 
were called so because of their shape ; and the wild geese 
go to Goose Pond ; and Crane Lake, the surveyors found a 
crane's nest on the bank. And then there's something very 
curious about Paradox Pond : the stream that the outlet 
falls into is sometimes swelled by a thunder-shower that 
don't reach the pond, and then the water sets back through 
the outlet into it. So you see I know all about the history 
of that country." 

" But," said I, " you have not informed us concerning 
Pyramid Lake." 

" Oh, as for that," said he, " I don't rightly know what 
that took its name from, without it was because they some- 
times catch suckers there very early in the season." 

" However," said he, " I was talking about my family. 
You must know that my grandfather came from England 
with Lord Howe. He had just finished his education at 



CROWN POINT. 24J 

Oxford ; and there's few men that have got as much learn- 
ing now-a-days. What an army that was ! Every man 
was dressed in superfine broad cloth, with gold knee 
buckles. And, besides, though I am almost ashamed to 
say it, I am connected by marriage with General Arnold's 
family. He was a good soldier, though, at Sarritoag, and 
some said he got the victory there. Why don't you sing 
the old songs oftener, boys ? 

That the great Mount Defiance 

They soon would fortify : — 
We found that we must quit our lines, 

Or ev'ry man must die. 

Which soon we did in haste perform, 

And went to Sarritoag, 
A burning all the buildings 

We found along the road. 

'Twas then the gen'rous thought inspir'd 

The noble Gates's mind, 
For to send out Gin'ral Arnold, 

To see if he could find 

A passage through the inimy. 

Wherever he might be ; 
Which soon he did accomplish, 

And set the country free." 

I made a passage to Crown Point one pleasant afternoon 
and evening, in a small lake schooner, built of boards, laid 
in several courses, without timber, on Annesley's plan. Its 
masts also were made so as to be easily struck ; and the 
dimensions and fixtures being those of a canal-boat, it had 
taken a cargo through the Erie Canal, I believe to New- 
York, and was now on its return to the lower part of Lake 
Champlain. The crew, consisting of only two men and a 
boy, were full of fresh water wit and anecdotes, and inci- 
dents by canal, lake, and river, and at once skilful and 
obliging. As they were telling a long eel story, the neighs 
bouring eminences on the left, and the distant ridges of the 
Green Mountains on the east, especially the Camel's Hump, 
made a magnificent appearance in the declining sun, while 
we passed near enough to the scattered dwellings to feel 

21* 



242 LAKE CHAMFLA]X. 

some interest in the inhabitants of several retired but plea- 
sant spots. I was carefully landed in the jolly boat, under 
a bright moon, at a pretty beach on Chimney Point ; and 
after a few hours' repose at the inn, examined with interest 
the striking features of that neighbourhood, not less interest- 
ing in scenery than in history. On the elevated point, while 
a fine breeze was blowing, I traced out an old breastwork, 
once extending from cove to cove, and a redoubt which 
looked up and down the lake for a great distance, while the 
ruins of Crown Point lay exposed to the eye on the opposite 
side of the lake, here reduced to the breadth of a river. 
What a commanding position ! Nothing could pass this 
way without sailing long in the range of the artillery of 
the old fortress, then passing it in review with broadside 
exposed to the batteries within musket-shot, and afterward, 
if it could survive this risk, steering for several more in the 
range of one of the five great redoubts, which were in ad- 
vance of the angles of the main-work. I crossed the ferry, 
and rambled about the solitary ruins, but found them in a 
pretty good state of preservation. The original fort, erected 
by the French on the shore, is near the landing. The long, 
broad, and low point, the end of which is occupied by the 
fortifications, is overgrown by young trees, which have 
sprouted since its evacuation, and there is a grove of the 
same age as that at Ticonderoga. The parade within the 
fortress was green, and almost as smooth as if still in use ; 
while only the want of roofs and glass in the brick buildings 
surrounding it, and the growth of sumacs round the parapet, 
showed that the place was deserted. The barracks were 
occupied partly by sheep and partly by swallows ; and the 
solitary contemplation of the scene around wakened many 
reflections on past events. 



243 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



Feelings on entering Canada — State of Society — Emigrants — Scenerj, 
&c. on the St. Lawrence — Architecture — Wilful Errors on Educa- 
tion in Convents. 



Disappointment is the first feeling of a traveller on enter- 
ing Canada by this route. There is no scenery, and he 
soon feels as if there were no inhabitants, that is, none in 
whom he can take interest. The country is flat, and misera- 
bly cultivated ; and you have positive evidence, on every 
side, that the people ought to be sent to school an age or 
two, and laughed at or provoked personally in some manner 
to induce them to build decent houses, keep them clean, 
root out the thistles and plant corn, cut down militia poles, 
and erect school-houses — and allow the soil to produce 
food for man and beast, for which it seems perfectly willing ; 
take courage, indulge hopes of rising, and set themselves 
about it. It is bad enough for the New-Englanders to be 
for ever " guessing," and " contriving," and " tinkering," and 
" fixing," I know ; but it is a good deal worse to do neither. 
I ached to put some of the people I met, old and young, into 
the hands of a certain district school-master, the greatest 
tyrant I ever knew. It seemed to me that ignorance had in 
their case assumed the symptoms of so terrible, so fatal a 
disease, that I would have volunteered to put on his thumb- 
screws and borne him out in any of his severest measures, 
if there were any hope that so he might get a morsel of 
knowledge into any crevice of their whole brains. " Raze 
it, raze it to the foundations," I exclaimed, at the sight of 
the great fabric of public ignorance which is reared among 
these active and amiable people. 

Montreal Mountain is in sight just before you for miles 
before you reach the river; and you have little else to 



344 CANADA. 

observe but Belleisle and Boucherville Mountains, on the 
right, over the vast plain, after leaving St. John's. The old 
and comfortless houses of Laprairie, the gloomy nunnery, 
with spacious grounds enclosed with high walls, and the 
vociferous, French speaking people on the shore of the. 
noble St. Lawrence, remind one of Europe. 

The steamboats on the St. Lawrence and the Lakes have 
been often crowded to excess this season, by the emigrants 
newly-arrived from Great Britain, so much so as to render 
travelling for pleasure remarkably " unpleasant." And such 
a mixed company as has often been observed in these car- 
goes ! While some of those obliging tourists,, who occasion- 
ally write about us, have such subjects before their eyes, 
they might save themselves the trouble of leaving home. 
Among the emigrants, it has been remarked, there has been 
this year a much larger proportion of intelligent and wealthy 
persons than usual, and the western states have had the 
benefit of adding not a few of them to their population. But 
some appeared to be entirely unprovided with necessary in- 
formation, as well as pecuniary means, to direct their course 
to advantage after their arrival. One person might be heard 
making inquiries about the country through which he was 
passing, that sliowed he had never been in a geography 
class in his life ; while many were at best but extremely ill 
versed in " the use of the globes," which the English school 
advertisements seem to regard as such an accomplishment* 
What will not ignorance do, and at the same time leave un- 
done ! I am persuaded that many of the emigrants might 
save years of time, and all the money they bring out, if 
they would but ask a few such questions as the boys in the 
New- York Public-schools could readily answer, and act on 
the knowledge thus obtained. One woman you will hear 
inquiring for her husband or children, who have come to 
America ; another resolving to return to-morrow ; one sick, 
and believing the climate is unhealthy; another amazed at 
the beauty and fertility of the country, the friendliness of 
the people, the abundance of work, the high wages, the 
cheapness of land, and in short, the superiority of every 
thing to his expectations. The only wonder to me was. 



MONTREAL. 245 

that they were not all delighted ; for I have seen the ships 
in which some of them have crossed the Atlantic, and should 
think that any thing would be preferred to life on board of 
them. 

I asked an old Scotchman one day, just arrived, whe- 
ther he had had a pleasant passage. He pointed down 
the half-closed hatches and said, " In that hole there were 
above ninety of us ; and yet this was the only ventilator 
we had during a voyage of six weeks, except three days, 
when the after-hatches for a short time were removed. On 
account of the impurity of the air, 1 used to come on deck 
at night, and could scarcely persuade myself to return." I 
confess that ihe sight presented below sunk my ideas of 
human nature to a grade that always makes me feel un- 
comfortable for a day or two. The sounds which rose to- 
gether reminded me of Bunyan's pit of Tophet, though the 
old man did not answer my idea of a shepherd of the De- 
lectable Mountains. 

A few days may be agreeably spent at Montreal and 
Quebec, and in visiting the environs : for, although there 
is little to excite interest in the literary institutions (know- 
ledge, in all its branches, being at a low ebb), the foreign 
air of the people, their habitations and manners, the appear- 
ance of activity which pervades every thing during the brief 
summer which the climate allows, and the peculiar features 
of the natural scenery, present considerable attractions. 
Time is not allowed to enter into detail. Let us see, then, 
whether any idea of the variety and nature of the objects, 
most striking to a traveller, may be conveyed by a rapid 
mention of them. 

The approach to Montreal, in one of the Laprairie 
ferry-boats, allows you to contemplate it at leisure. The 
distance is nine miles : the river, which is three miles broad, 
being crossed transversely. You are excited by the rapidity 
of the powerful steamboat, and of the current, bearing 
you like a bird over a ragged channel, which often is visi- 
ble, covered with crags, apparently ready to tear the bot- 
tom of the vessel. French, of a harsh and uncouth dia- 
lect, is dinned in your ears by market-men and women, 



246 CANADA. 

watching their baskets of roots, herbs, &c., gathered iu 
scanty harvest from some part of the rich but abused plain, 
which extends from the river's bank to the horizon, except 
where it is bounded by a few distant and imposing isolated 
mountains. If you cross in a batteau, you hear the boat 
song of your rowers, in which there is little sweetness or 
poetry. The city, spreading along the low shore of the 
river, shoots up the spires of five or six churches, with the 
domes of two convents, and the towers of the new cathedral, 
against the Mountain of Montreal, which alone rescues the 
scene from utter tameness. Those who wish to contem- 
plate the largest specimen of barbarous architecture in North 
America (saving Mexico), may visit the cathedral. 

What apology is there for the introduction of the Gothic 
style into the United States? What is there among us 
which is signified by it? What is there connected with 
it in our history or institutions ; and what good influence 
can we expect from it upon the future ? We have had 
nothing like a gradual progress of taste through many ages, 
and no successive races of men in different stages of civili- 
zation, or any period of our history at all allied to such a 
style. At the same time our condition is based on the foun- 
dation of universal knowledge : there is no mystery, no 
secrecy, no ignorance. Nothing is concealed, nothing is 
done through systematic imposture. Neither do we admit 
of any principle by which the feelings are to be influenced 
independently of the judgment. Why then should we 
meddle with other architecture, in which vastness and 
gloom work their eflTects upon the heart, without offering to 
the thought any distinct subject to fasten upon ; in which the 
eyes are shown dark recesses which they cannot penetrate, 
and a multitude of laboured devices and ornaments the mind 
would in vain understand ? Simplicity and use, two of the 
great features of nature's works, are banished hence ; the 
light for which our eyes were formed is obscured ; and the 
objects and ends of our creation mystified, as far as archi- 
tectural objects can produce such an eflfect. 

Why should we wish, in this country, to present rast 
piles to the eye, in which it can trace none of the great prin- 



FALSE NOTIONS. 247 

ciples of natural taste ; in which the mind finds only per- 
plexity ; and the feelings, instead of being exalted with hope 
and encouragement, are depressed with undefined gloom. 
How far more appropriate are the pure and chaste Greek 
styles to our own history, character, and condition ! I would 
take the Doric and Ionic in preference to the Corinthian : 
and, if I may judge from my own feelings, the first-men- 
tioned is to be preferred to all others. Regard the ancient 
rules and proportions so far as they are appropriate to the 
uses of our public edifices, and consistent with the nature 
of our climate ; and then the more vigorously you cultivate 
taste and multiply specimens in cities, towns, villages, and 
the very forests where they may be needed, the better. In 
America there is no apology for a gradual introduction of 
any species of perfection which necessity does not forbid 
us to know at once. We must admit only the best of every 
thing. Where the forest tree falls, there let taste erect her 
purest monuments, while learning adopts the best methods 
for instruction, and philanthropy binds heart to heart with 
the love of the gospel : for liberty has established a system 
which requires the most powerful support of us all, and 
we are answerable to mankind for an exhibition of the no- 
blest results of civilization and Christianity. 

One of the unaccountable traits of the taste of our coun- 
trymen, is displayed by many of them on entering a Cana- 
dian town. They will take off" their children to the nunne- 
ries, obtain, if possible, an interview with the superieures, 
purchase a few trifles of domestic manufacture, infer from 
what they see that all must be well arranged and systematic 
in every department, because they spend a few minutes in 
the presence of stiff and starched nuns, and go away with 
a gratuitous impression that there is a great deal of solid in- 
struction given to the children and young persons whom 
they profess to teach. 



248 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

Diiferent Travellers have different Eyes — The Polish Exiles — Regrets 
on the Necessity of closing — " Tom Slowstarter's" Farewell. 

How strongly was I struck, the other day, with the con- 
trast between two foreigners, whom I met travelling in the 
United States : a Frenchman and a South American ! The 
one recalled to my recollection Monsieur Levasseur, who, 
while in the train of General Lafayette, witnessed the la- 
bours of the New- York firemen one night at a conflagra- 
tion. Having come from a physical people, a nation of 
materialists, he wished to handle one of the engines, in 
order to form an idea of those machines which he thought 
exhibited some of the great capacities of republicans. 
The South American was always admiring the results of 
some moral cause in our society; and the sagacity and 
just sentiments he displayed were not only gratifying, but 
instructive. And what a comment was here on the political 
systems of Europe and America! The old world is man- 
aged like an engine. Millions of her inhabitants are stand- 
ing this day like machines, with their weapons presented, 
like the teeth of a bark-mill, or the cogs of a cider grinder, 
ready to do work by the exertion of brute force. What an 
immense capital stands from age to age invested in arsenals 
and foundries, fortresses, fleets, and powder-mills ; yet the 
budget of war annually groans under new appropriations. 
Peace may sit balancing her pinions over them for a time ; 
but something soon sets her on the wing ; and what shall 
induce her again to alight? When a crop of humanity 
is to be gathered, when the flowers of a new season are to 
be plucked, the machinery moves again ; its course is 
against mankind, its track is a stream of human gore. The 
Greeks cried for freedom, but they must pass through Missi- 



THE BANISHED POLES. 24^ 

longhi to reach it. The Polanders claimed the rights of men, 
and they are sent to weep their loss in Siberia. "VMierever 
the principles, in which we so thanklessly hve, are even 
whispered in Europe, there comes the wild beast of oppres- 
sion. His iron step is heard in the university, his gripe is 
felt in the school and at the fireside : while on this side of 
the Atlantic, education, imiversal example, and the govern- 
ment — even self-interest and prejudice itself, invite, nay, 
in a manner, constrain us to hear the language of liberty 
and humanity, and to associate to sustain them ; in Europe, 
the warmest hearts are chilled by the sight of the mana- 
cles and dungeons to which such sentiments are condemned. 
Indeed, nobler, more exalted men than we, men with a far 
livelier and more active devotion to the good of mankind 
than ourselves, are now, while we speak, shut up in prison, 
in loneliness and misery, friendless and oppressed, because 
the enemies of truth and righteousness, of light and wisdom, 
of liberty and right, are too many and too strong. 

Now are there no greater duties incumbent on us than to 
eat and drink, and take the good of the things around us ! 
Is there no higher object for us to aim at than merely to 
gain wealth and honour, or to exercise power ? Whoever 
devotes himself exclusively to either of these, is an enemy 
of our coimtrv', a foe to mankind, a blot on our land, a de- 
preciator of our advantages, an ingrate to our heavenly 
benefactor. 

The two hundred and thirtj-six Polanders who have been 
sent to the United States, by the arbitrary" and inhuman 
power of Austria, have among them individuals presenting 
peculiar claims to the interest and kindness of Americans. 
Most of them are severe sufferers for the sake of liberal 
views and patriotic exertions in favour of freedom. A few 
of them, however, were of bad character, and were sent 
here to discredit the others. The government of Austria is 
a severe despotism ; and one of its most detestable features 
was displayed in an attempt to injure the characters of men 
whose patriotism they hated and feared. After these Po- 
l^Jiders had been imprisoned at Brinder for some months, 
on vs^rious pretexts, without trial or charge, having bees 

22 



250 REFLECTIONS ON SEEING THEM. 

collected from different quarters, and generally unacquainted 
with each other, arrangements were made to transport them 
to Trieste, where they were to embark for this country. 
This step they consented to, because the only alternative 
offered was, that they should be delivered up to Russia. 
They were to be transported in detachments ; and the first 
that was sent off consisted of those who had been imprisoned 
for crimes, that their conduct might make an impression un- 
favourable to the patriots. Since their arrival in America, 
a discrimination has been made, and the unworthy set aside. 

Here they now are on our coast, necessarily unknown, 
except so far as we choose to seek an acquaintance with 
them, ignorant of our language, manners, and habits, but, 
iike the blind or the dumb, presenting on that account dou- 
ble claims to our sympathy and aid. Like those suffering 
tinder some natural infirmity from which we are happily free, 
they also teach us lessons of gratitude and of duty, under the 
superior blessings which we enjoy. 

A banished Pole should move among us as a living 
monument of arbitrary power, and whenever we look upon 
liim it should be with the recollection — " Here is a victim 
of despotism ! Here is a man, such as our ancestors would 
have chosen to be, — if offered his alternative — slavery or 
banishment: here is one who has endured that arbitrary 
power to which our ancestors would not submit, but re- 
sisted, for the sake of their children." 

It seemed to me, while conversing with some of these 
lonely exiles, as if Providence had sent them among us at 
this time not without a kind design. We have been so re- 
mote from the sight of oppression and violence, so long 
accustomed to regard tyranny and lawless rule as mere 
creatures of the imagination, that when sentiments are de- 
clared, and measures taken tending strongly that way, in- 
stead of taking the alarm, too many of us look on with in- 
difference, as if there were a wall of impenetrable brass 
erected to secure our liberty. These melancholy and silent 
strangers seem to whisper to us, to beware of ourselves, our 
freedom, and our country: and if their presence shall rendt^r 
VIS any more watchful, if it shall lead us to reflect moce in- 



CONCLUSION. 251 

tently on the inestimable privileges we possess, of the deli- 
cate and responsible trust committed to us for the benefit of 
mankind, in being made the depositories of free institutions 
and Christian light and liberty, it will not have been in vain 
that our sympathy for them has been painfully excited, or 
that they have been deprived of property, friends, and 
home. 



Some eminent musicians have said that the most import- 
ant part of, an air is the end; and that, no matter what 
are the merits of a composition, if there be appropriate har- 
mony in the closing note, the impression must be delightful, 
and the hearers will be content : so gourmands, sometimes, 
take special pains to lay by their choicest morsels for the 
last, that the final bit may convey to the palate the richest 
flavours and spicery — because its taste is to be lasting. How 
mortifying then, to an author, who would not intentionally 
violate any of the great rules of taste, to find that no such 
advantage, as he could wish to make a happy close, is 
allowed him. Here I am suddenly admonished, by the 
amount of paper I have blotted, that I must bring my hasty 
remarks to an end. It is in vain for me to plead that I have 
a heap of materials lying yet untouched before me, scenes 
of nature, both in ink and crayon, words of the wise, and 
oracles of fools, remarks of chance-travellers, and thoughts 
of my own, with snatches from Greek and Latin authors, un- 
accountably preserved from the chaos of my early studies, 
now applied, well or ill, to modern affairs— it is in vain tQ 
declare that a book, to be appropriate, should be neither far 
in advance of, nor behind society, and that all these materi- 
als will deteriorate and perish in a season. Indeed, the fact 
is, I have found things so rapidly moving around me while I 
have been making this volume, that I have been on a constant 
race to keep up. Now out of breath, indeed, but not ex- 
hausted nor entirely discouraged, I am advised to desist ; 
and, even while I hesitate, am chagrined to think that I 
already begin to be distanced. 
I feel, in short, that I am in much the same condition in 



352 CONCLUSION. 

which I last saw my old friend Tom Slowstarter. It was 
on the Amboy and Trenton railroad. We had stopped " to 
water," as the facetious term is — (not our horses, but the 
steam-boiler) — and Tom had alighted to look at the ma- 
chinery. The bell rang, the wheels began to move, and 
the passengers called to him to hurry; but th6 working of 
one of the small cog-wheels perplexed him so much that he 
kept pace on foot. " Overtake us, and jump in Tom, you'll 
be left !" cried the passengers. " Are you speaking to a 
poet, or a prose-writer?" said Tom; "I am not behind the 
world, much less out of sight of it. I want t^ look a little 
further into things." — "If you stop to understand any 
thing," said the engineer, " you can't go with us." — " Here's 
something wrong," said Tom — " I want to know a little 
how it is you go ahead so, and then I'll ride." — " If you are 
going to know much, you can't be in our company. You 
must make up your mind to one thing or the other pretty 
quick ; so jump in." — " I want to see it go round once or 
twice more," said Tom : " now I'm ready ; open the door." 
The door was opened, but the engine had begun to snort 
quicker and quicker, and the wheels went round like a buzz. 
Tom laid himself almost flat with running ; — and " Here, 
take my hand — run, Tom, run — a little faster, a little faster !" 
resounded from the cars, while he was straining legs, arms, 
and fingers, to get up again with his companions. " You 
had better stop," said one, at this crisis ; and Tom's cour- 
age failed in an instant. He gave up the chase, and stood 
like a post in the middle of the road, while all the caravan 
joined in a general shout of " Good-by, Mr. Slowstarter ! 
Good-by, Mr. Know-a-little." — " Good-by, good-by," said 
Tom : " good-by, Mr. Puffer and family,^ — there's nothing 
of you but noise and motion — but yet I wish I was with 
you. The next time I'll try to find less fault, and keep- 
Tap with society." Tom has never since been heard of. 



¥INIS. 



I A 

SUBALTERN'S FURLOUGH: 

DESCRIPTIVE OF SCENES IN VARIOUS PARTS 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES, 

UPPER AND LOWER CANADA, NEW-BRUNSWICK, 

AND 

NOVA SCOTIA, 

DUKING THE SUMMER AND AUTUMN OF 1S32. 



BY E. T. COKE, 

LIEUTENANT OF THE 45TH REGIMENT. 



WandYing from clime to clime observant stray'd. 

Their maimers noted, aard their states survey'd. 

- p., 



IN T AS' O VOLUMES. 

VOL. I. 



NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY J. & J. HARPER, 

NO. 82, CLIFF-STREET. ' 
AND SOLD I;Y the PRINCIPAL BOOKSELLERS TFAOliQHOVT 
TKE UNITED STATES. 



M DCCC XXXIII, 



H. Ludwif, Printer. 



TO 

HIS CtRA.CE the duke of RUTLAND, KG., 

&c. &c., 

^Sts HJolumt 

IS BY PERMISSION DEDICATED, 

WITH SINCERE RESPECT, 
BY HIS grace's 

VERY OBEDIENT 
AND MUCH OBLIGED SERVANT, 

THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE 



Feeling dissatisfied with the various statements 
which have issued from the press in such rapid suc- 
cession within the last two or three years, respecting 
the United States, and being convinced that much yet 
remained to be learned relative to that part of the vast 
Western Continent, I came to the determination of 
availing myself of a short leave of absence from my 
military duties to cross the Atlantic, and inform my- 
self more fully upon the subject. 

After travelling over 2000 miles of the most inte- 
resting districts, and visiting the principal Atlantic 
cities in the United States, I extended my tour 
through an equal distance in the British provinces. 
As my only object in publishing the following 
narrative is to contribute, in however small a degree, 
to the knowledge already possessed of those countries 
which are so fast rising into importance, I hope that I 
shall not lay myself open to a charge of presumption. 

In the following unpretending pages, I profess only 
to give an unbiassed and impartial statement of what 
came under my own observation. My remarks are 
confined to those things which require but a short re- 
sidence in a country ; and, merely pointing out some 



X PREFACE. 

of the most interesting objects and places of greatest 
historical note, I leave the full definition of Republican, 
National Republican, Federalist, NuUifier, Democrat, 
and all the other various shades and sects of the 
poUtical world, to those who have made state affairs 
their study. 

I much regretted that circumstances would not per- 
mit a longer stay in so attractive a portion of the 
globe, and do not hesitate to recommend those who 
are at a loss how to kill time during the summer 
months to make a similar trip. If their expectations 
are not too sanguine, they will be amply repaid for 
the slight inconvenience of rough seas and rough 
roads, by not only becoming acquainted with an inte- 
resting people, but by the opportunity v\^hich will be 
afforded them of viewing some of the most stupendous 
natural curiosities as well as some of the finest speci- 
mens of art in the world. 

May 2, 1833. 



CONTENTS 



CHAP. I. PA&E 

Set sail from Liverpool — Emigrants on board — Man stow- 
ed away — Dr. Emmons's Fredoniad — Make land — Pilot 
— Enter the Delaware — Run aground — The Pee Patch 
Fort — Delaware City — Q-uarantine Station — Mud Fort 
— Visit Pliiladelphia — Dearborn — Repubhcan Tavern- 
keeper 13—29 

CHAP. 11. 

Philadelphia — Hotels — Temperance Societies — Theatre 

— Newspapers 30 — 37 

CHAP. III. 

Charitable Institutions — Pennsylvania Hospital — West's 
Painting — Alms' House — Museum — Mammoth — Ma- 
jor Andre — Arcade — State House — Academy of Fine 
Arts — Line-of-battle-ship — Water-works — Bridges — 
Fire and Hose companies — United States' Bank . . . 38 — 52 

CHAP. IV. 

Volunteers and Militia — Sale of Stock — Railway — Ger- 
man Town — The Fire King — Penn's Elm-tree — Ste- 
phen Girard — Churches — Markets — Streets — Peniten- 
tiary :..... 53 — 67 

CHAP. V. 

Departure from Philadelphia — Steamers — Chesapeake — 
Baltimore — Monuments — Theatre — Cathedral — JNIer- 
chants' Hall — Beauty of the Females — Notice at the 
Hotel — General Ross — Battle of North Point — Leave 
Baltimore — Coaches — Bladensburgh, Battle of — Arrive 
at Washington 68—82 

CHAP. VI. 

The Capitol — Mr. Adams's Speech — Destruction of Pub- 
lic Buildings — Tripoli Monument — Member of Con- 
gress drowned — Attempt at Assassination — Mr. Law 
—Plan of the City 83—96 

CHAP. VII. 

Alexandria — Museum — Mount Vernon — Washington's 
Tomb — General Jackson — State and War Depart- 
ments — Captured Colours — Portraits of Indian Chiefs — 



Xll CONTENTS. 

Arsenal — Navy Yard — Georgetown— Ohio Canal — 
Falls of the Potomac 97—110 

CHAP. VIII. 

Leave Washington — Musical German — Miserable Night 
— Blue Ridge — Winchester — Harper's Ferry — Manu- 
factories of Arms — Descend the Potomac — Point of 
Rocks — Restless Night — Mississippi Captain — Rail- 
v/ay — Cholera — Arrive at New- York Ill — 127 

CHAP. IX. 

Day of Festivities — Description of City — Academy of 
Fine Arts — Niblo's Gardens — Witty Auctioneer — 
Churches — Negro Dandies — Yankee Story — Justice of 
the Peace — Sam Patch's Leap — Deserted City . . . 128 — 147 

CHAP. X. 

Mrs.TroUope — Captain Hall — Brother Jonathan's anger 
— Correct English 148 — 155 

GAAP. XI. 

Leave New- York — Hell-gate — New-Haven — Indignant 
Lady — Regicide Judges — Yankee Nonchalance — Defi- 
nition of " Yankee " — Hartford — Archers — Fire — 
Churches 156—164 

CHAP. XII. 

Leave Hartford — Providence — College — King Philip — 
Not permitted to enter Newport — Stage-coach Conver- 
sation — Yankee Wit — Arrive at Boston ..... 165 — 179 

CHAP. XIII. 

Description of Boston — Washington's Statue — Museum — 
Faneuil Hall — Navy Yard — Bunker's Hill — Hai'vard 
College — Mill-dam — Franklin — Leave Boston — Colo- 
nel Goffe — Beautiful town — Ascend Mount Holyoke 
Well-trained Horse — upset in the Coach . . . . . 180 — 194 

CHAP. XIV. 

Lebanon Springs — Shakers— Lecture — Mother Ann — 
Black Fiddlers — Troy — Schenectady College — -Erie 
Canal — Driver thrown into the Canal — Falls of the 
Mohawk — In search of the Sublime ....... 195 — 209 

CHAP. XV. 

Inquisitive Pot-house Keeper — Falls of Trenton— Shaking 
in a Dearborn — Whitesborough Institution — Clergy- 
man's Salary — Sunday Schools — Tuscarora Indians — 
MailBags— Names of Towns 210—222 



SUBALTERN'S FURLOUGH. 



CHAPTER I. 

Adieu, adieu ! my native shore, 
Fades o'er the waters blue. 

Byron. 
Hail Columbia! 

Song. 

As nothing can be more uninteresting to unprofes- 
sional readers, than a recapitulation of all the various 
changes of weather, the heavy squalls and gales, the more 
tedious long- rollinof calms, the dense fog's and dano-erous 
icebergs (on the banks of Newfoundland), the passing 
sails, and, in short, the usual contents of a ship's log; 
I shall only briefly take notice of a few incidents con- 
nected with the voyage. After a detention of three days 
at Liverpool, owing to contrary winds with rough and 
boisterous weather, the packet ship, in w^hich I had en- 
gaged a passage, hauled out of Prince's dock at daylight 
on the morning of the 23d of April, and stood down 
channel ; but it w^ as not until the fifth day from that time 
that we were clear of the southernmost cape of Ireland: 
a foul wind possessed, however, one redeeming quali- 
ty, by successively displaying the fine bold coast of the 
Emerald Isle, and the picturesque mountains of Wales. 

I had selected the Philadelphia in preference to the 
New-York line of packets, and made some small sacri- 
fice to accommodation and society, from a supposition 
that but few emigrants would be bound so far to the south- 
ward ; knowing full w^ell, from previous experience, th6 

VOL. I. — B. 



14 A subaltern's furlough. 

great inconvenience of a crowded steerage. I was therefore 
much surprised to find that although a vessel of only 370 
tons, she was carrying out 146 passengers in that part 
of the ship. I had,however, no cause to regret the choice 
1 had made, as I found myself in an excellent seaboat with 
an active and experienced commander, who had already 
crossed the Atlantic seventy-six times; no trifling re- 
commodation to a pleasure-seeking passenger. The 
weather, for the season of the year, was unusually bois- 
terous, and the wind variable ; blowing scarcely for twen- 
ty-four hours in succession from any one point of the 
compass : but having a good stock of provisions and 
pleasant society on board, it mattered little to the cabin 
passengers (who were, with one exception, old sailors) 
which way the ship's head was ; but to the emigrants, 
an increasing gale was a source of great tribulation and 
alarm ; the deck resounding with their groans and 
prayers until it moderated. The captain and myself 
were walking upon deck one squally day, when seeing 
several of the steerage passengers sitting on the fore 
hatchway, exposed to every sea which came aboard, yet 
at the same time apparently regardless of it, we had 
the curiosity to ask them, what they were doing there, 
and why not below in their berths ? " Why sure now, 
Captain," said the spokesman, an Irishman, "and isn't 
it that we are waiting here, so that we will be ready to 
get into the boats, if the ship goes down ; for we know 
you wouldn't wait to call us." The weather itself was 
not more variable than their conduct; in a calm, the 
Welch and Irish kept the whole vessel in a uproar with 
their broils and fighting, which ever arose from national 
reflections ; and each man having brought a store of 
liquor on board with him, as part of his sea-stock, the 
combatants were generally more than half intoxicated ; 
while in rough weather, the self-same parties would 
be leagued together singing psalms, in which they were 
assisted by the English and Scotch, Avho kept aloof dur- 
ing the storm of words and w ar of fists. Amongst the 
emigrants, however, were many respectable farmers, who, 
with their families, were about to seek their fortunes in 
the New World ; but the majority were artificers, and 



A subaltern's furlough. 15 

some few were men, who, if they could not make their 
fortunes, judging from outward appearances, could scarce- 
ly mar them. They were well equipped for the early 
commencement of operations in America, being burthen- 
ed with no such heavy baggage as bedding, trunks, 
wives, children, or even a change of apparel; and it 
was a matter of conjecture to many of us, how they 
could have procured sufficient mone}'- for the payment 
of their passage. A man obtained a free one in the fol- 
lowing, by no means uncommon manner : — The crew in 
overhauling the stores in the sail-room, a few days after we 
had put to sea, discovered him snugly stowed away with- 
in the coil of a cable, and bringing him upon deck, he 
proved to be a great, broad-shouldered, ruddy-faced son of 
Erin, "a poor orphan," as he described himself, who hav- 
ing taken a drop too much of the cratur had found his 
way into the sail-room by accident, and fallen asleep, 
when the ship lay alongside the quay, and that his pro- 
visions were in his coat-pocket, which, upon due exami- 
nation, proved to contain only a solitary copper, and a 
dry crust of mouldy bread. Our worthy skipper put 
him in great bodily fear, by threatening to tie him up to 
the gangway, and after giving him. a round dozen, to 
put him on board the first fishing-smack we met off the 
coast of Wales ; but it was merely a threat in terrorem, 
as the following day he was duly initiated into all the 
rites and mj^steries of Jemmy Ducks; and after being in- 
vested with fall power and command over that very 
requisite department, he became a most important and 
useful personage. Some scoundrel, however, relieved 
him of part of his charge, by administering a quantity of 
oxalic acid, which carried off all our stock of grunters 
at " one fell swoop." A woman, also, with the tact of her 
own sex, avoided detection until we had been a month 
at sea, and was only then discovered through the im- 
peachment of one of her follow-passengers. She had 
gone quite on the opposite tack to the "poor orphan :" so 
far from courting concealment, she had ever been observ- 
ed to be cooking or loitering about the caboose, was the 
most noisy of all the females on board, and had once 
or twice even ventured upon the sacred limits of the 



16 A subaltern's furlough. 

quarter-deck. So proud a bearing blinded every person 
on board : nor could any one have imagined, even when 
challenged with the fraud, but that she had paid her 
passage, so menacing and formidable an appearance she 
assumed, with her arms a-kimbo, and a contemptuous toss 
of the head. Although tbe captain keeps a sharp look 
out (there being a fine imposed upon ships carrying a 
greater number of passengers than the law admits, ac- 
cording to the tonnage), yet few vessels sail from Liver- 
pool without carrying more than their complement. Some- 
times an affectionate wife introduces her lord and mas- 
ter on board in the guise of a trunk filled with old clothes, 
or'in a crate, as her stock of crockery, in which he is half 
smothered, and tossed about most unceremoniously, dur- 
ing the confusion attendant upon Aveighing anchor. 

Having anticipated a three weeks' passage, the few 
books I had brought on board were exhausted by the 
time we were half-way across the Atlantic ; and as a last 
resource, almost amounting to a fit of desperation, I ob- 
tained the loan of Dr. Emmons's " Fredoniad ; or, In,- 
dependence Preserved," from a fellow-pessenger, and 
toiled in a most persevering manner through at least ten 
of the almost interminable number of cantos (forty, I be- 
lieve) which compose the work ; but a series of gross li- 
bels upon the English nation, did not even possess suffi- 
cient interest to make amends for the rest of such a dry, 
prosing composition ; and after a few days I flung it 
down in despair, preferring to pass my time in watching 
the fleeting clouds by day, and the moon by night, to 
volunteering again upon such a forlorn hope. If the 
work was equally unprofitable to the author in a pecu- 
niary line, as it was to me, in point of information, he 
must have derived very little satisfaction from his lucu- 
brations. I never had the good fortune to meet wiih 
any of his countrymen who had thoroughly perused the 
work, so could not ascertain their opinion of its full value 
as an historical ont Of its impartiality, any one may 
judge from the following extract (one out of a hundred), 
descriptive of an interview between the British General 
Procter, and Indian Chief Tecumseh, in which the for- 
mer says, 



A subaltern's furlough. 17 

"Brother ! our king-chief hath for you prepared, 
For every scalp an ample rich reward — 
Batter of those who b'eed, their skulls in sport, 
For we with them shall decorate our court 
At York, Cluebec, at Kingston." 

The gold is yours, what sort soe'er you bring, — 
Such is the liberal promise of the king! 
There's no distinction of the price for kind — 
Sires, infants, mothers, virgins, lame or blind. 
Now, now's the offer'd time to crush the brood, 
To broil their hearts, and cat their flesh for food." 

Thrice happy indeed was I, when the green water 
once again making its appearance, showed that we were 
in soundings. The unusual length of the voyage had 
not only been rendered extremelyunpleasantby the num- 
ber, but also by the want of cleanliness in the steerage 
passengers, some of whom would not even breathe the 
fresh air upon deck, in moderate weather. 

On a fine, mild afternoon — the first we had been favour- 
ed with since the shores of England had sunk into the 
waves — there was a cry of "Land a-head'" from the 
fore-top gallant yard. Every one in an instant was upon 
deek, some for the first time during the voyage, and the 
rigging was covered with those who previously had 
not courage to mount the ladder of the hatchAvay. Every 
eye was in vain strained to gain a glimpse of the long- 
wished-for coast of America, and three cheers greeted 
the captain as he descended upon deck; the women crowd- 
ing round him, dancing and singing, as though he had 
rescued them from some imminent danger. Many had 
certainly suffered much from that worst of all miseries, 
sea-sickness ; and those who had seen better days, from 
the company they were obliged to keep in the steerage ; 
where the small-pox and inflammatory fever had broken 
out a few days after we had sailed from Liverpool, at- 
tacking many, and three or four persons fatally. The 
wind, however, which had been dying away for hours, 
now totally failed us, and it became a dead calm. So 
our sole employment consisted in watching the move- 
ments of the innumerable sloops and small craft which 
where rolling about at the distance of some miles; and 

B* 



18 A subaltern's furlough. 

which, whenever a slight air or cat's paw crossed them, 
appeared as if concentrating to one point, their heads 
tending to some great emporimn of commerce. Two ex- 
ceptions to the above afforded much amusement. These 
proved to be rival pilot schooners, taking every possible 
advantage of flaws of wind and wet sails, but still mak- 
ing little progress towards the ship which each was striv- 
ing to gain : at last, however, our attention was attracted 
by a small black object, which appearing at intervals on 
the swell of a sea, was at first taken for a portion of the 
drift-wood which so thickly covers the Atlantic off the 
American coast ; but, upon examining it through a glass 
was found to be a small cutter, pulled by two men, and 
in the course of an our the victorious pilot stepped on 
board, having fairly outmanoeuvred his opponent. Every 
one pressed close round, asking him ten thousand sense- 
less questions; but he was a man of few words, and all 
the information we could reap from him amounted to — 
" that they had frost and snow in April;" and that "there 
was a war in Congress." Having delivered thus much 
in a gruff tone of voice, he threw a bag of clothes from 
under his arm alongside the helm; and after passing a 
few minutes in looking up and scanning the rigging with 
a seaman's eye, lay down upon a hencoop, and, over- 
powered by his exertions to reach the vessel, was soon 
fast asleep. His appearance as a pilot was by means 
prepossessing; far different indeed from that of the hardy- 
looking race of the English Channel. He was a tall, 
gaunt old man, with shoulders bent by the storms of 
some seventy years, and a face bronzed by the sun until 
it resembled that of a copper-coloured Indian. I really 
pitied him, as he tottered along the deck with one of his 
hands, which had been jammed between the cutter and 
ship's side, to his mouth, and thought it high time that 
he was placed upon the retired list. The day being 
warm, he was attired in a 'thick white waistcoat, nankeen 
trowsers, originally blue, and a yellow painted canvass 
hat. I should judge that the captain was as little pleas- 
ed with the appearance of the man who had taken charge 
of the ship, as any one else ; for after asking in a signi- 
ficant and dry tone of voice, "if there were any more pilots 
: on board the schooner," he descended into the cabin. 



A subaltern's furlough. 19 

A light breeze springing up at midnight, the follow- 
ing morning showed us the tops of the trees and head- 
lands of the low coast of Maryland, suspended as it 
were in mid-air. After standing a few miles to the 
northward, by sun-set we made the capes of the Dela- 
ware. It was now the 25th of May, and the day, like 
the precedmg one, was fine and clear, w4th a warm sun, 
the thermometer standing 90" in the shade : such a sud- 
den change in the atmosphere, together with the low, 
flat shore, forcibly reminded me of scenes in the East- — 
the entrance to the Ba^r of Delaware resembling the 
mouth of the Hoogly or Iriwaddi rivers. The distance 
between Cape Henlopen, in Delaware, and May, in 
New Jersey state, is about fifteen miles. . .The coast near 
the latter Cape abounds with dangerous sh<5als and over- 
falls, and the navigation of the river is rendered very in- 
tricate throughout by numerous sand-banks. After pass- 
ing between the two Capes, the river expands into a noble 
bay about tbirtv miles long, and thirty wide, when it again 
contracts to a width of two miles, and continues so with lit- 
tle variation up to Philadelphia. On the Henlopen side 
of the bay a large breakwater was commenced a fe-ij^ years 
since ; but instead of the foundation being laid upon the 
" Shears," a shoal running parallel with the land, it was 
placed in four fathom water between the two : thus, not 
only rendering the work more troublesome and expen- 
sive, but also contracting the harbour considerably, w^hich 
has been formed into a receptacle for sand and mud, 
brought in by an eddy caused by this ill-judged plan. 
The pilot assured us that there was already less water 
by some feet than when the foundation was commenced. 
An officer of the American navy had recommended that 
it should be built upon the shoal, but his plan was re- 
jected, and the present one. that of a civil engineer, 
adopted ; by which, one of the finest harbour in the 
world appears in danger of being seriously damaged. 
The breakwater against the fury of the sea is to be a 
mile in length, with the upper end of the harbour pro- 
tected by an ice-breaker, so that vessels may ride in 
safety during the winter months : the latter was highly 
requisite, many ships having been lost through exposure 



20 

to the river ice. Seven planks in the bows of the packet 
in which I was at this time, had been cut throug-h in 
less than two hours, three months previously, by the 
drift-ice being kept in motion by the strength of the 
tide, and acting- like a saw against them ; the vessel be- 
irjo- only saved by running it ashore. The expense of 
this great undertaking will be enormous, much of the stone 
required in its construction being brought by sea from the 
Hudson River quarries 120 miles distant. 

Evening had set in before we fairly passed between the 
Capes, and at the distance of five miles the surf could be 
distinctly heard roaring against Henlopen. During the 
day, while our anxious pilot was asleep upon the booms, 
a boat was lowered to catch a turtle floating on the sur- 
face of the water, in as happy a state of forgetfulness as 
the old man himself; but the ship having too much head- 
way upon her, the boat could not again reach her, and 
we were under the necessity of awakening the pilot, to 
heave the ship to, which he most reluctantly ordered, 
venting his displeasure at the same time in a low inward 
grumbling. Not feeling very confident as to the safety 
of the ship under such a man's charge, I took the pre- 
caution of retiring to my berth at night without divesting 
myself of my clothes, thinking it more than probable that 
I should find it convenient to be on deck ere morning 
without much loss of time. My suppositions proved cor- 
rect ; for about half-past two o'clock I was awakened by 
a slight motion of the ship, and although it did not equal 
in force that of a heavy sea striking it, yet the grating of 
a vessel with all sail set upon a hard sand, produces a 
sensation which, when once experienced, will never be 
forgotten. All hands rushed upon deck in an instant ; 
when, io ! and, behold ! our worthy Argus was snugly 
stowed away in a corner, fast in the arms of Morpheus, 
while the vessel striking heavily for some minutes, finally 
fell over a little on its side, and remained immoveable. 
At this time there were no fewer than three lisfhts in 
sight, two a-stern on the Capes, and a floating one di- 
rectly a-head. I never heard how the old man accounted 
for running us a-ground — this, however, was no time for 
explanations ; but the boats being lowered as quickly as 



A subaltern's furlough. 21 

possible, and soundings being* taken, it was found that 
we were on the windward side of the "Browns," a 
dangerous shoal about twelve miles from land ; and that 
so long as the wind continued from the present quarter, 
there would be no hopes of the ship floating ; and, if the 
sea rose, she would inevitably go to pieces. As day 
dawned, the ominous prospect of the head and bowsprit 
of a ship showed themselves above water, a few hundred 
yards distant, being all the visible remains of the " Can- 
ning " packet, lost two months previously. It was now 
for the first time, I heard a genuine Yankeeism : " the 
ship's lost to all eternity," said the captain ; " it a'int, 
I guess," drawled out the old pilot, giving the sentence 
at the same time a most inimitable twang, which even 
Mathews himself would have failed in producing. 

It was in vam that all efforts were used for three hours 
to get the ship off : it remained firm as a rock, excepting 
during the turn of tide, when it again struck heavily. 
Seeing no prospect of its being moved until lightened, 
the "star-sp. ngled banner," reversed, was hoisted at the 
mast-head, while the passengers awaited the arrival of 
boats from the shore to carry them away. The first craft 
■we saw was a sloop, which, laden with shingles, and 
steered by a negro, run close alongside of us. The fellow 
hailed us very coolly, with, " Have you a pilot on board ?" 
and being answered in the affirmative, he continued on 
his course without tendering any assistance: fortunately, 
however, we needed none ; for the wind veering a point 
or two, and freshening with the flood-tide, we once more 
floated, and standing our course up the river, soon over- 
took our black friend and his shingle sloop, at whom, en 
passant, a volley of abuse was fired. 

As we gained the head of the bay, and entered the 
contracted part of the river, we caught occasional glimpses 
of small villages and neat white cottages, scattered at 
intervals along the banks, which were covered with wal- 
nut, oak, and patches of pine, I was leaning over the side 
of the vessel, admiring the scene, but regretting that the 
clearings were so " few, and far between," when seeing 
a carpenter, a countryman of my own, similarly em- 
ployed, I asked him what bethought of the New World 



^ A subaltern's furlough. 

at which we had arrived. "Oh, sir ! it is a fine country ; 
only look at the timber." I smiled, as the old story of 
" nothing like leather" occurred to my recollection ; and 
the worthy planer of wood continued to enlarge upon his 
opinion in a strain of encomium. He came up to me a 
few hours after landing, quite delighted with having been 
hired at a dollar per diem on the Ohio rail-road. 

The scene was, indeed, a most pleasing one. The clear 
bright atmosphere, which is unknown to England, dif- 
fusing a cheerfulness over every object, with not even a 
passing cloud to hide the brilliant rays of the sun, as they 
fell upon the thousands of white sails which covered the 
surface of the broad and noble Delaware ; while, ever 
and anon, one of those huge leviathans of the deep, an 
American steamer, darted past, leaving a long train of 
white smoke from its timber-fed furnaces. The whole 
presented a scene striking and novel to an Englishman. 
If there Avas any thing to detract from the beauty of the 
landscape, it was the perfect flatness of the face of the 
country, there not being a rising knoll, or single ridge 
to break the back-ground ; nor could much be seen be- 
yond the smiling verdure of the forest-crowned banks: 
it was a scene, indeed, at this moment, of life and sun- 
shine ; but, probably, if viewed on a squally, wet day, 
would be thought tame and uninteresting enough. We 
hove to again towards evening to be boarded by an officer 
from a revenue cutter, moored in the centre of the stream ; 
and at dusk came to an anchor near a small island, where, 
at five o'clock the following morning, we buried a child 
which had died of the small-pox during the night ; and 
then getting under weigh, arrived a-breast of Fort Dela- 
ware,or the " Pee Patch," built upon a low reedy island, 
which divides the river into two channels, and is an ad 
mirable position for defending the passage. The works 
are of masonry and very extensive ; but the whole of 
the interior, including the barracks and light-house, was 
eonsumed by fire two years since, through the negligence, 
as was stated, of an officer reading in bed. No steps 
have yet been taken towards repairing it, great sums 
having been expended upon its construction only a few 
years previous to the above accident. The channel bo- 



A subaltern's furlough. 23 

tween it and the main land is so narrow tliat with a 
head wind and heavy squalls there was not room to work 
ship, and we were once more compelled to let go the 
anchor. Opposite to, and about a mile distant from the 
fort, is Delaware city, at the junction of the Chesapeake 
Canal with the Delaware. I went ashore for an hour 
at mid-day, and walked through the city, which is but 
a miserable straggling hamlet, with an inn at the landing- 
place, and one or two stores ; at which a friend, who 
accompanied me, managed to obtain a few cigars, and 
some Lundyfoot snuff, though the storekeeper would 
not vouch for its being the true Irish — " it might be 
Yankee, and made at Boston, but he guessed not." The 
canal appeared of noble dimensions, being ' sixty feet 
wide at the surface, and calculated for vessels with a 
^Jraught of eight feet water. The inhabitants, however, 
told us it would not answer now so well as formerly, a 
rail-way having been formed five miles higher up the 
river in the same direction, on which all the passengers 
travelled between Philadelphia and Baltimore. While 
we were standing on the side of the tide-lock, twa sloops 
passed through, laden so high with enormous oysters, 
that the vessels' decks were on a level with the water ; 
being fastened a-stern of a steamer, they were towed up 
the river at an amazing speed, for the gratification of the 
gourmands of Philadelphia. The cholera had broken 
out in England prior to our sailing, and rumours of its 
ravages had reached America some time ; and as, most 
probably, its effects had been much exaggerated, every 
one lived in the greatest dread of its appearing in the 
States. A gentleman, who was standing on the quay at 
Delaware city, welcomed my friend, and congratulated 
him upon his return to his native land ; but the latter 
telling him in jest that we had the cholera on board, he 
parted from us very unceremoniously, nor could all our 
assurances that it was only the small-pox, induce him to 
return and continue the conversation. 

The passengers were unfortunately prevented from quit- 
ting the vessel, on account of the small-pox having been 
prevalent on board, which (although the last case was 
disposed of) would probably subject us to quarantine for 



24 A subaltern's furlough. 

some days, unless we could manage to pass the Lazaretto 
before the 1st of June, on which day the quarantine flag 
is hoisted, and its performance rigidly enforced upon all 
infected vessels. It was noAV the 31st of May, and every 
one being anxious to avoid farther detention, the ship got 
under weigh with the flood tide at night ; and after run- 
ning into the mud only once, from which it was again 
raised by the tide in a few minutes, it carried on all sail 
until past midnight, and anchored half a mile above the 
quarantine station, nineteen miles from Philadelphia. The 
hospitals, with the storehouses, are very prettily situated 
within a picquet fence on the right bank of the river ; a 
small village adjoins, and the ground rising with a gentle 
acclivity from the water's edge for upwards of a mile, is 
covered with farms not too thickly wooded, but in many 
places assuming a park-like appearance. The country, 
from the town of Wilmington, the largest town in the 
state, containing about 12,000 inhabitants, twenty-four 
miles below, loses its dead flatness ; but the ridge, which 
runs parallel with, and at some distance from the river, 
does not exceed 200 feet in height. Throughout the day 
of the 1st of June it blew so heavy a gale of wind, that 
the ship drifted a considerable distance from two anchors, 
nor could the pilot venture to get under weigh. The 
following morning, during the ebb tide, several of us 
rowed one of the boats to a small island, towards which 
we had been drifting the preceding day, vvhere a farmer 
had established himself In landing, we found a sturgeon 
of about 120 pounds weight, which had been left by the 
tide in a shallow pool, and seized upon him for the be- 
nefit of the steerage passengers, who, like ourselves, w^ere 
rather short of provisions, and to w^hom we thought a 
little fresh fish would be acceptable. But it w^as not 
until after hard struggling and battling, with much 
splashing and rolling about in the water, that three of us 
succeeded in securing our prize, and lifting him into the 
boat. The farmer, also, selling us a lamb and some 
vegetables, we returned in triumph to the vessel, and 
again got under weigh, passing Mud Fort, situated on an 
island at the embouchure of the Schuykill, a strong hold 
during the revolutionary war, and the scene of much hard 



A subaltern's furlough. 25 

righting- between the Hessians and Americans, in which 
the former were repulsed with considerable slaughter ; 
but the foit was finally evacuated after a vigorous defence 
against the British, who lost the Augusta, line-of-battle 
ship, and Merlin frigate, which took fire during the action 
having grounded at the sunken chevaux-de-frise, half a 
mile below the fort. Tht position is an excellent one, 
but the works are fast falling to decay. On the opposite 
side of the river is Red Bank, the site of another old 
fort, abandoned on the approach of Lord Cornwallis ; 
while in the centre of tiie stream are the remains of a 
large wooden battery, formed by piles driven into the 
bed of the river ; but, like the Pee Patch, it was set fire 
to and destroyed, by some fishermen cooking their jdio- 
visions a few years since. The only vestiges of it now 
remaining are some rusty old guns, and blackened pieces 
of timber. From the lower end of another reach of the 
river, which extends for several miles from hence, we 
caught the first glimpse of the city — a shot-tower, and 
huge building in the navy yard, with a forest of masts 
approaching above the trees. The smart white frame- 
houses, with their green Venetian shutters and gardens, 
overhung by weeping willows, and numerous peach 
orchards, on the Jersey side, with the large well-cleared 
grazing farms upon the Pennsjdvania bank, were evident 
proofs that we were ^rearing seme great abode of men. 
One island particularly (the possession of which I envied 
the owner,) of about 200 acres, won by lottery ten or 
twelve years since, was remarkably beautiful, and quite 
studded over with cattle. 

The tide failed us most provokingly off Gloucester 
Point, at the upper end of the fine reach, just as we* had 
rounded the land and came in full view of the city, at the 
distance of only three miles ; the vind ' o, following its 
example, the ship could not stem the ebbing tide, and 
very reluctantly the anchor was let go within almost 
reach of the goal. 

In the evening several of us landed, and hiring at a 

small inn one of the common four-wheeled open wagons 

of the country, called a Dearborn (from the inventor,) 

proceeded over a road, which, though in the immediate 

VOL. I. — c. 



36 A subaltern's furlough. 

vicinity of the city, was wretchedly bad ; the carriage, too, 
was as uncomfortable an invention as could be well ima- 
gined, there being- but one narrow wooden seat, slung in 
the centre of the vehicle upon straps, with two rude 
wooden springs to support it ; upon this two of our party 
took up a position, while another who volunteered to drive 
sat in a chair in front, and two others occupied chairs 
in rear of the centre seat, while a little curly-headed negro 
was posted upon one of the shafts, where he sat grinning 
and holding on like a monkey, his dusky skin forming a 
charming contrast to an old gray mare which was to draw 
us. Our time being short, the whip was not spared ; so 
that we were wniried along, rolling and pitching about 
through thick and thin, and wherever a drain or deep 
water-course crossed the road, the carriage giving a heavy 
lurch, and all the chairs shooting forward with one con- 
sent, our volunteer coachman was nearly precipitated on 
to the horse's back, and the two in rear of the centre seat, 
not having any thing to plant their feet firm against, were 
thrown on to the backs of those occupying the seat in 
front. It was, indeed, a broad caricature of " travelling 
m the south of Ireland," and we were right glad to gain 
the outskirts of the city in safety, and abandon the uneasy 
conveyance, leaving it in charge of our sable attendant. 

While one of the party went to sound the ship-owners 
if we could remain ashore during the night, and until the 
vessel reached town, the rest of us (after walking about 
the dimly lighted squares and streets, with which we were 
soon fatigued, our feet being tender from the little exer- 
cise we had taken of late) proceeded to an oyster-cellar, 
and there awaited our sentence with great calmness, dis- 
cussing the various merits of English natives, and Ame- 
rican oysters. The latter are so large, that one of our 
party, who had laid a wager that he could eat a dozen and 
a half of them, was obliged to cry, " hold ! enough !" ere 
he had arrived at the twelfth. At midnight oar spy re- 
turned with the doleful tidings that we must return to 
the ship, and that on the morrow a medical man would 
inspect it, and set us at liberty. To hear, was to obey ; 
so without any more ado we retraced our weary steps, 
and found our little man of colour and his charge, the 



A subaltern's furlough. 27 

pale horse and Dearborn, most patiently awaiting our 
arrival. The road appeared to have grown either some- 
what rougher, or our charioteer did not steer so small 
(to use a nautical term) as before ; but after running a 
wheel once or twice into the deep ditches, with which the 
road was flanked, he broughtj^is again to the tavern-door 
by one o'clock, where the landlord, aroused from his 
slumbers, soon made his appearance at the bar. Every 
thing was strange to me ; I might truly say I was in a 
New World ; I had heard of American landlords, but, 
like the road, this man was beyond my conjectures. He 
came down stairs the very beau ideal of a dandy, w^ith a 
tiny, little spiral hat, placed knowingly on one side of his 
head, gold studs, and broach at his breast, watch guard- 
chain round his neck, rings on his finger, with his nether 
man cased in a pair of red striped " continuations;" and, 
to crown all, he cursed and swore " like any gentleman." 
We inquired if the boat had been off for us, and were 
informed it had been, but had returned to the ship at 
ten o'clock, as he had told the crev/ he would fire a signal 
when w^e arrived. Thanking him for his kindness, we 
thought, as a recompense, we Avere in duty bound to call 
for something to drink ; and a considerable time having 
elapsed in carrying our good intentions into effect, and 
seeing no preparations making for firing his promised 
signal, one of the party asked him if he would favour us 
by commencing operations. " Aye, aye," said he, " I 
told the mate I would fire a gun — I would fire a gun in. 
anger when you came ; but wait a bit, I'll take a glass 
myself first," and then with the most admirable sang- 
froid, he set about making a glass of port-wine sangaree, 
stirring the sugar about with a small circular piece of 
wood, to which a handle was attached, and which he 
twirled about in his white hands with great dexterity. 
Having quaffed this mixture off to our healths, and wel- 
come to America, he lighted a cigar, offering one at the 
same time to each of the admiring spectators, and then 
crossing his arms over his breast a la Napoleon le Grand, 
he talked of passing events, and asked the news. Like old 
Hardcastle in the play, I said aside — 

" This fellow's impudence really makes me laugh," 



'is A subaltern's furlough. 

and thought his cool assurance must arise from a wish, 
to show off before strangers. I turned away from him, 
unable to repress a laugh, and, as bad luck would have 
it, unfortunately saw a dog lying upon the floor, which 
I stooped down to pat with my handc Mine host no 
sooner saw this movement, than he was out from his bar 
in a twinkling, holding forth at great length in praise of 
the animal, which, from hi? account, possessed all the 
Tarious qualities of spaniel, greyhound, and pointer com- 
bined. "Aye, now there's a dog for you — only look at 
him — look at his points — there's not a cleverer dog in 
the Union, I guess — he's half English ; when I go out 
gunning, and shoot a rat or a squirrel, he'll bring it 
immediately — I would' nt take fifty dollars for him. A 
gentleman down here, the other day, offered thirty for 
him off-hand. Here, sir ! here sir ! come here ! now, 
lie down! lie down, lie dow . . .n!" The dog leapt 
up, placing its fore paws on its master's person. "Aye, 
he's only frightened before company, but I would'nt 
part with him for a cent, less than fifty." And thus 
having, in his own opinion, established his dog's reputa- 
tion, he at last commenced the tedious operation of load- 
ing an enormously long barrelled gun, respecting whose 
good qualities, also, we had to endure a long disserta- 
tion, while he was springing the ramrod, and ramming 
down about three fingers' deep of shot, with as much 
labour and flourishing movement as there is in loading 
a tvv-elve-pounder field-piece ; and, finall)^ we had the 
infinite satisfaction of hearing Washington, or some 
such nobly-named dusky son of Afric, summoned, who 
received orders to proceed to the end of the wharf, and 
fire the long wished-for signal. Shortly afterwards the 
plash of oars reaching our ears, we bade our loquacious 
host a long and last farevvell, having paid him two dol- 
lars and a half {lOs. (5d, sterling) for the use of his Dear- 
born and gray steed (" he would'nt be too hard upon 
us"), and by half-past two o'clock were once more in 
our snug cabin. 

The sun was high in the heavens the following day 
before I awoke from strange and troubled dreams of 
oysters, Dearborns, landlords, negroes, dogs, and guns. 



A subaltern's furlough. 29 

A medical man coming on board as the anchor was 
weighing, said he was satisfied with the heahh of the 
passengers, and that we had permission to leave the ship, 
which an hour after mid-day was safely moored alono-- 
side one of the city wharfs, and we all stepped a- 
shore with heartfelt joy, having been forty days from 
Liverpool 



%Q A subaltern's furlough. 



CHAPTER II. 

Into one of the sweetest of hotels, 
Especially for foreigners — 

Where juniper expresses its best juice — 

For downright rudeness, ye may stay at home. 

Btron. 

Philadelphia, the reverse of Lisbon, at first presents 
no beauties ; no domes or turrets rise in air to break the 
uniform stiff roof-line of the private dwellings. And, if 
1 remember right, the only buildings which show their 
lofty heads above the rest, are the State House, Christ 
Church (both built prior to the Revolution), a Presbyte- 
rian meeting-house, and shot-tower. The city, therefore, 
when viewed from the water, and at a distance, presents 
any thing but a picturesque appearance. It is some- 
what singular, too, that there should be such a scarcity 
of spires and conspicuous buildings, there being no few- 
er than ninety places of worship, besides hospitals and 
charitable institutions in great numbers. In place, too, 
of noble piers and quays of solid masonry, which we 
might reasonably expect to find in a city containing near 
140,000 inhabitants, and holding the second rank in 
commercial importance in North America, there are but 
some shabby wharfs, and piers of rough piles of timber, 
jutting out in unequal lengths and shapes, from one end 
to the other of the river front ; and these again are 
backed by large piles of wood, warehouses, and mean- 
looking stores. On the narrow space between them and 
the water are hundreds of negro porters, working at vast 
heaps of iron bars, barrels of flour, cotton bags, and all 
the various merchandise imported or exported ; singing 
in their strange broken-English tone of voice, some ab- 
surd chorus, such as, 

" I met a nigger" — {chorus all) "long time ago !" 

"I met a nigger" — {chorus all) " long time ago !" 

"1 say, where you going?" — {chorus all) "long time ago!" 

" Pull away, my boys" — {chorns) "yoh! heave — yoh!" 

or some such elegant strain. 



A subaltern's furlough. 31 

Fifty paces hence, the stranger enters the city, which 
possesses an interior almost unrivalled in the world. 
On walking through the fine broad streets, with rows of 
locust or other trees, which planted on the edge of the 
causeway, from a most delightful shade, and take aw^ay 
the glare of the brick buildings, he is struck immediate- 
ly with the air of simplicity, yet strength and durability 
which all the public edifices possess, while the private 
dwellings with their neat white marble steps and win- 
dow-sills bespeak wealth and respectability. The neat- 
ness, too, of the dress of every individual, with the total 
absence of those lazy and dirty vagabonds who ever in- 
fest our towns, and loiter about the corners of all the 
public streets, passing insolent remarks upon every well- 
dressed man, or even unattended female, impress a 
foreigner w'ith a most pleasing and favourable idea of 
an American city. 

The river in front of the town is about a mile wide, ■ 
but the channel is considerably contracted by an island 
which extends nearly the full length of the town, and 
consequently renders the navigation more intricate. It 
is prettily planted with trees, and a ship has been run 
ashore at one end, and converted into a tavern, a house 
being raised upon the upper deck. It was quite a gala 
day, numerous steam-vessels and rowing boats, proceed- 
ing up the stream to Kensington (part of the suburbs,) 
and we arrived just in time to see a large ship of 600 
tons burthen glide gracefully from the stocks. 

I w^as recommended by an American gentleman to an 
hotel in the principial street, where I was immediately 
accommodated with a room. It will scarcely be out of 
place to mention here, that the bed-rooms in the hotels 
in the United States are not, generally speaking, so large, 
comfortable, or well furnished as those in English 
houses , but the establishments themselves, with regard 
to size and capacity for accommodating numbers, far ex- 
ceed those in England. In America much comfort is 
sacrificed for the purpose of admitting numerous guests 
into the house : a private sitting-room, or separate meals, 
are scarcely to be had, and then only at a high price ; 
and, therefore, as almost every one is under the necessi- 



32 A subaltern's furlough. 

ty of dining at the table d^hote, a large hotel presents a 
scene of great confusion and bustle. At the one in 
which I resided during my stay at Philadelphia, there 
were about a hundred persons at each meal, and the ma- 
jority of them being merchants, from the back settle- 
ments, on their summer trip to purchase articles for their 
customers in the west, lawyers and shopkeepers (or 
" storekeepers," as they term themselves, a "shopkeeper" 
being only a retailer on a small scale), they devoured 
their meals with a most astonishing rapidity ; and va- 
nished instanter to their offices and counters, intent upon 
business alone. I was lost in admiration, and nearly 
lost my dinner, too, the first few days I was ashore, in 
watching the double-quick masticating movements of my 
vis^d-vis; I truly believe that one-third of the people had 
disappeared ere my soup was cool. A young man, who 
opens a store, if a bachelor, has seldom any other apart- 
ment than the shop he rents, while he boards and sleeps 
at an hotel, paying generally about 400 dollars (841. 
sterling) per annum, if at a large and respectable one ; the 
board for occasionel lodgers being one and a half dollar 
(6s. 3c?.) per day. It is not customary in most towns to 
make any extra remuneration to the waiters or other 
servants of the establishment ; but of late years, this bad 
habit, like many others from the mother country, has 
been creeping into the cities on the coast ; and though 
the servants do not actually request any, yet they usually 
expect it : they are generally Irish emigrants, or half 
castes, if I may use an eastern term ; for though, during 
my stay in the United States, I did not enter less than a 
hundred hotels, I never saw a waiter whom I could as- 
certain to be a free-born American ; their pride not allow- 
ing them to fill such places. In country villages, where 
the attendants are females, I have frequently seen the 
one waiting upon me at the dinner -table, take a chair 
near the window, or the other end of the room, and read 
a newspaper until she observed I required any thing ; 
but during my whole travels, I never knew a waiting- 
man take a similar liberty. 

The breakfast hour is usually from seven until nine 
o'clock, dinner at two or three, tea from six to seven, 



A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 33 

and supper from nine to twelve ; the table at each meal 
being most substantially provided. Even at breakfast 
there is a profusion of beef-steaks, cutlets, mutton-chops, 
eggs, fish, fowls, Indian bread, flour bread, sweet cakes, 
cheese, sweetmeats, and a mess of other et ceteras ; but 
little wine is drank at dinner, though spirits are placed 
upon the table without any extra charge being made to 
consumers. Yet since the institution of the Temperance 
Societies, the use of ardent spirits amongst the higher 
classes of society has been almost laid aside. I have 
seen a range of well filled spirit decanters placed upon 
the dinner-table before upwards 150 people and not a 
single stopper removed. The strongest proof, however, 
of the great decrease of the use of ardent spirits, appears 
from the following returns of the number of gallons im- 
ported into the United States during seven successive 
years, In 

Gallons. 

1824 , , 5,285,047 

1825 4,114,046 



1826 
1827 
1828 
1829 
1830 



3,322,380 
3,465,302 
4,446,698 
2,462,303 
1,095,488 



Many hotels have " Temperance House" inscribed in 
large gilded letters over the door or sign, as a notice 
that wines and malt liquor only can be obtained there. 
Like all other new institutions the Temperance Socie- 
ties had their enthusiasts at first. Abstinence Societies 
emanated from them, the members binding themselves 
to drink pure water only ; and, in some churches, nei- 
ther males nor females were admitted to the communion 
unless they had enrolled themselves amongst the mem- 
bers of one or other; society. All these bigoted absurdi- 
ties a,re now softened down into wholesome and sound 
regulations. Wines are generally high priced, and not 
of the first quality,ilso that little of any thing is drank 
during dinner. But in the old-fashioned hotels, where 
Temperance Societies have not any sway, the bar, dur- 



34 A subaltern's furlough. 

ing the intervals between meals, is besieged by a host of 
applicants for iced mint-julaps, brandy, egg-nog, gin- 
cocktail, rum and v/ater, gin and water, Port san- 
garee, and all the various combinations and mixtures of 
liquors imaginable. When a foreigner (as was the case 
not unfrequently with myself) finds himself established 
for two or three days in such a house as this, he must 
summon his full stock of nerve and resolution to enable 
him to withstand the dense fumes of tobacco smoke, with 
which his apartment is fumigated, and to breathe an at- 
mosphere strongly impregnated with the conjoined scent 
of the above mixtures. The intolerable habit of chew- 
ing tabacco is very prevalent amongst the storekeepers, 
and lower grades of society, but I think it is almost con- 
fined to them ; the very act of mastication itself (tremen- 
dously as it is here performed) is not half so offensive 
to the eyes of a foreigner as the results arising from it. 
In a country, however, where there is ostensibly no dis- 
tinctive gradation of classes in the people, one must of 
hecessity sometimes, as on board steamers and canal 
boats, mix with the canaille ; but I will bear witness that 
I never even then observed any impropriety, or, during 
the whole time I was in America, received the slightest 
insult from (what I will term) the lower orders, and to 
which individuals, and especially foreigners, are so sub- 
ject in my native country. 

It is singular to see the footing upon which a land- 
lord at an inn is with his customers — appearing rather 
to confer than receive a favour, by admitting them into 
his house. At dinner, he frequently takes the head of 
the table, drinks his wine, and asks those sitting near to 
take a glass with him ; chats, and laughs away, and sits 
longer after the cloth has been removed than nine-tenths 
of his guests. 

Upon first landing, I was much struck with the per- 
sonal appearance of the people, as being tall, slim, nar- 
row-shouldered, whiskerless, and narrow-chested, with 
high cheek bones, sharp, sallow features, and a slouch- 
ing, relaxed kind of walk. I think narrow shoulders 
and sharp features may be deemed characteristic of the 
natives of the Atlantic states ; one never seeing any 
such sturdy, robust, rosy-faced, John Bull sort of people 



FURLOUGH. 35 

as Britain produces. Their costume, also, differs much, 
every man invariably wearing trowsers, and the lower 
orders being better dressed than people in the same walks 
of life in England. As it was summer, most people 
had white straw hats, with broad brims, the back part 
over the collar of the coat, turned up like a shovel hat, 
giving the wearer a most grotesque appearance ; a great 
proportion of the young men wore spectacles, and weak 
eyes appeared very prevalent. 

The first evening I was ashore, I attended the Arch 
Street Theatre (the most fashionable one, the Chesnut, 
being closed), for the purpose of seeing Mr. Hackett, 
who was in high repute with his countryman, perform 
the part of " Nimrod Wildfire," in the " Raw Kentu- 
kian ; or, Lion of the West." The play is intended to 
censure and correct the rousfh manners of the States west 
of the Alleghany mountains, and delighted the audience 
exceedingly : though to me the greater part of the dia- 
logue consisted of unintelligible idioms. Mr. Hackett 
possessed great talent for broad comedy ; and I w^as in- 
formed that the effect of his performance in the West 
was such as to excite a strong feeling against him ; and 
so incensed the "half-horse, half-aligator boys," "the 
yellow flowers of the forest," as the call themselves, 
that they threatened "to row him up Salt river," if he 
ventured a repetition of the objectionable performance. 
I was sorry, however, to see rather a bad feeling dis- 
played towards the old country. In various parts of the 
performance frequent allusions were made to circum- 
stances which oug'ht loni'' to have been buried in ob- 
livion ; and which could only tend to diminish, or rather 
prevent, mutual good-will. These allusions, which ever 
told against the English, were much applauded by the 
audience. The theatre is a fine builcling, with white 
marble front, and columns of the same beautiful material, 
supporting a frieze of the Doric order ; and the interior 
arrangements are excellent. There are also two more in 
the city, superior in external appearance, and more ca- 
pacious within than any of the minor theatres in Lon- 
don, and all are well attended. 



36 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 

The 3d of June was so cold and rainy a Sunday, as to 
remind me of Washington living's description of that 
passed by him at the little town of Derby ; but here there 
were neither the " ducks paddling about the inn-yard, the 
hostlers and post-boys lounging about the stable-doors, 
or the bells chiming for church." In vain did I stand at 
the window looking into the flooded street ; there was 
not a coach passed by the live-long day, and but one peal 
of bells in the city, those at the old English Christ 
Church ; while the ringing of the solitary bell at each of 
the other meeting-houses and churches of all denomina- 
tions, sounded more like a toll of the passing-bell, and 
added to the gloominess occasioned by the weather. As 
evening set in, I followed the example of the author of 
the Sketch Book, and took up a newspaper ; but reading 
only "molasses," "flour," "whiskey," "pork," "bagging 
and bale rope," or the not more interesting news of " the 
President's speech has arrived in England, and a bitter 
pill it is for an Englishman to digest," &c., I turned over 
to the advertisements, generally the most amusing part of 
an American paper ; a runaway apprentice being adver- 
tised " as fond of pressing down the bed in the morning, 
with a reward of one cent, (a half-penny,) and no charges 
offered for his apprehension." Printers were cautioned 
against a swindler, who was thus described : — " He stole 
his trunk, &c. out of my house last night, and he has 
gone away without paying the tailor's bill or his board 
bill. — Said Rogers is about twenty-three years of age, has 
red hair, fair skin, and a large homely mouth; the upper 
teeth jutting over very much. He plays the flute, and 
makes some pretensions as a poet ! but it is easy to see 
that he is a plagiarist. It is presumed that editors inte- 
rested for the character of the trade, will give the above 
a few insertions. 

''3 times. "John Cromwell." 

The following morning I was engaged in passing what 
little baggage I had brought with me through the Custom 
House, which was done with but little trouble or vexation, 
as there were no inquisitive searchers who make it a point 
to pry into every writing-desk, dressing-case, and carpet- 



A subaltern's furlough. 37 

bag". In the evening I again attended the theatre to wit- 
ness the performance of the " Gladiator," a Philadelphian 
tragedy, from the pen of Dr. Bird. The principal cha- 
racter was sustained by Forrest, the Roscius of the Ame- 
rican stage; but I was quite unable to judge either of the 
merits of the actor, or the play itself; for being rather 
late, the house was so excessively crowded, and the gen- 
tlemen, with scarcely an exception, wearing their hats in 
the dress circle, I could only obtain an occasional view 
of the stage. I at first attributed the latter to want of due 
respect to the ladies, but afterwards came to the more 
charitable conclusion, that it was an ancient custom be- 
queathed to them by their Quaker forefathers. I caught 
one glimpse of the star of the night, and he appeared to 
possess a fine figure, but farther, deponent knoweth not. 
An American gentleman told me that Forrest intended to 
cross the Atlantic, and introduce the " Gladiator " upon 
the English stage ; and that, if we could only divest our- 
selves of national prejudices, he must succeed, for the 
play was so admirably written, and so excellently per- 
formed ! But when I asked him, a few evenings after- 
wards, to accompany me to see young Kean, in the part 
of Cloten, in Cymbeline, which he was performing for 
the benefit of an American actor, and was received by 
the audience in a most flattering manner, he declined in 
the following words ; " No ; J make it a point never to 
see any thing English, only what is truly American, 
performed." 



VOL. 1. — 'ID, 



38 A subaltern's furlough. 



CHAPTER III. 



Though no proud gates, with China's taught to vie 

Magnificently useless strike the eye : 

What though no arch of triumph is assign'd 

To laurell'd pride, whose sword has thinn'd mankind ? 



Lo structures mark the charitable soil 

For casual ill, maim'd valour, feeble toil, 

Worn out with care, infirmity, and age, 

T he hfe here entering, quitting there the stage. 

Savage. 



I NOW commenced visiting all the public institutions. 
Of charitable societies the number is amazing ; probably 
no city in the world, of the same population, possesses 
an equal number. It may be truly said, that it deserves 
its name, of " Philadelphia ;" there are upwards of thirty 
humane institutions and societies for the relief of the 
poor and orphans, besides above 150 mutual benefit 
societies, on the principle of the English clubs ; being 
associations of tradesmen and artizans for the support of 
each other in sickness, each member contributing monthly 
or weekly a small sum to the general fund. Of the pub- 
lic institutions the" Pennsylvania Hospital" is on the most 
extensive scale. It is situated in a central part of the 
city, near Washington Square, and was founded eighty- 
two years since, Benjamin Franklin being its greatest 
promoter. It contains an excellent library of about 
7000 volumes ; and it is calculated that about 1400 pa- 
tients are annually admitted into it, of which number 
three-fifths are paupers ; the remainder paying for the 
advantages they derive from the institution. The build- 
ing occupies an immense extent of ground, and on three 
sides of it an open space is left for a free circulation 
of air : the west end of the building is a ward for insane 
patients, of whom there are generally more than 100. 
The necessary funds for the support of the Hospital are 
derived from the interest of its capital stock, and from 
the exhibition of West's splendid painting of Christ 



A subaltern's furlough. 39 

Healing the Sick, which produces about 500 dollars per 
annum, and is exhibited in a building on the northern 
side of the Hospital Square. The artist intended to 
have presented the original painting to this Hospital, but 
his poverty could not withstand the offer of 3000/. made 
for it in England ; and it was sold with the proviso that 
he should take a copy, which was the one now exhibited 
here, and presented conditionally that it should be placed 
in a house of certain dimensions, and that the proceeds 
from its exhibition, being a charge of one shilling sterling 
for each person, should be added to the Hospital funds. 
The painting, which contains fifty-eight figures, is about 
16 by 9 feet, and with two small marine pieces, which 
he painted when a child, occupies a room in the second 
floor of a brick building, with the light admitted from 
the roof The woman who has charge of it has most 
probably been wearied by tedious visitors, for she did not 
even accompany me up stairs, but left me to admire its 
beauties without interruption. 

On the opposite side of the Hospital, in the open square, 
IS a fine statue of Penn, executed in England ; and on 
the western side is the public Almshouse, with Infirmary 
attached, another huge pile of building, capable of con- 
taining 1600 inmates ; but not being considered suffi- 
ciently extensive, and objections being made to its present 
situation, a new one is erecting on the rising ground at 
the opposite side of the Schuylkill river, capable of con- 
taining 3000. The institution is supported by a rate 
upon the people, and the average number of inmates is 
considerably above 1000. There were many lunatics in 
one of the wards, where I saw a man with most forbid- 
ding countenance feeding a poor girl who was chained 
to the wall, and her hands confined in a strait waistcoat; 
but I was assured that such severe measures were but 
seldom, and blows never, had recourse to. The majo- 
rity of the insane patients were confined from mania- 
potu, their number increasing as the warm weather 
approached. I asked one of them, who appeared rather 
sensible of his wretched state, how he felt. His answer 
was, " much better, but (shutting his eyes and conceal- 



40 A subaltern's furlough. 

ingf his face on the pillow) I have such horrid dreams :" 
never was Shakspeare's 

" Oh, that men should put an enemy into their mouths, to steal 
away their brains !" 

more dreadfully illustrated. The various wards appear- 
ed remarkably clean, and great attention was paid to the 
inmates. I was at first rather surprised to see a small 
tread-wheel in an out-building, which was however used 
only for grinding grain, and not as a mode of punish- 
ment. By th':s taking advantage of the labour of some 
few able people, and of some mechanics in the work- 
shops attached, part of the expenses of the institution 
are defray eu. 

Strangers are admitted to view the institution for the 
deaf and dumb, a short distance from the almshouse, 
during certain days of the week, upon making application 
to one of the directors. It was only incorporated eleven 
years since, and endov/ed by a grant from the legislature, 
with an additional provision for the annual payment of 
160 dollars for four years, for the support of each child 
admitted, with the provision that such annual payment 
shauld "^.ot exceed 8000 dollars (1650/. sterling,) the sum 
originally granted. The children, of whom there are 
about eighty, are instructed in various manufactures, and 
receive a good moral education. 

The Museum, commenced by Charles Peale, a private 
individual, occupies the two upper stories of a building, 
called the Arcade, and contains an excellent collection 
of stuffed quadrupeds and birds, also the most perfect 
skeleton of a mammoth in the world ; the few bones 
which Avere not perfect, or could not be found, being 
supplied by an excellent imitation in wood. The ske- 
leton was discovered in a morass, in Ulster County, 
state of New- York, in 1798, and was dug out of it after 
much labour and expense by the founder of the Museum, 
in 180i. Two paintings represent the machinery which 
was used for pumping out the water, and raising the 
enormous skeleton. There is a tradition respecting the 
anim.al as delivered in the terms of a Shawanee Indian, 
who described the terrific monster as follows :— " Tea 



A subaltern's furlough, 41 

thousand moons ago, when nought but gloomy forests 
covered this land of the slanting sun, long before the 
pale men, with thunder and fire at their command, 
rushed on the wings of the wind, to ruin the garden of 
nature — when nought but the untamed wanderers of the 
woods, and men as unrestrained as they, were the lords 
of the soil — a race of animals were in being, huge as 
the frowning precipice, cruel as the bloody panther, swift 
as the descending eagle, and terrible as the angel of night 
— the pines crashed beneath their feet, and the lake 
shrunk when they slaked their thirst ; the powerful javelin 
in vain was hurled, and the barbed arrow fell harmless 
from their side. Forests were laid waste at a meal, the 
groans of expiring animals were everywhere heard, and 
whole villages inhabited by man were destroyed in a 
moment," &c. &c. The skeleton of an elephant which 
is placed by its side, appears a very diminutive animal. 
Amongst the objects of curiosity are Washington's sash, 
presented by himself, an obelisk of wood from the elm 
tree under which Penn made his treaty with the Indians, 
in 1680, and a manuscript poem of Major Andre's, written 
but two months previous to his execution. It is a satire 
upon the failure of General Wayne, in an expedition 
which he commanded for the purpose of collecting cattle 
for the American army : it is entitled the " Cow Chase," 
and the first stanza is almost copied literally fiom the 
old English Ballad of " Chevy Chase." He is very se- 
vere upon the American General, amongst whose cap- 
tured baggage, he enumerates the following articles : 

" His Congress dollars, and his prog, 

His military speeches, 
His Conistock whiskey for his grog, 

Black stockings and silk breeches." 

and concludes his Poem with a check to his satire — 

" Lest this same warrior-drover, Wayne, 
Should catch the poet, and hang him." 

It is a singular fact that the the militia-men who took 
the unfortunate Andre prisoner, were a party from the 
array under the immediate command of Wayne; his 



43 A subaltern's furlough. 

subsequent unhappy fate is too well known. There is 
also an interesting gallery of 200 original portraits, 
principally of those who signed the Declaration of In- 
dependence, and the officers who figured in the revolu- 
tionary war, during which period most of the likenesses 
were taken. 

The lower part of the Arcade, which was built for shops, 
has caused a severe pecuniary loss to the stockholders, 
who asked too high a rent for them in the first instance, 
so that not one-half of them were let, and the mania for 
visiting the building has long since died away. It is a 
beautiful structure, with marble fronts of 100 feet, and 
150 deep ; costing, together with the ground, upwards 
of 160,000 dollars (34,000?. sterling.) 

The State House, which has one front in Chesnut 
Street, and the other in Independence Square, is the 
most interesting building in the city, and being more 
than a century old, bears some marks of antiquity : it 
occupies a great extent of ground, having the courts 
and public offices attached. There is a thoroughfare 
through the ground floor from the street into the square, 
until nine o'clock at night, when the gates are closed. 
On one side of it is the Mayor's Court, which was hold- 
ing one of its four stated sessions at this time ; and on the 
opposite side is the room in which the celebrated Decla- 
ration of Independence was drawn up, and which vras 
read from the steps in front of the building on the 4th 
of July, 1776. Some Goth in office modernized the room, 
for the purpose, as I was informed, of giving his nephew 
a job, and tore down all the old pannelling and pillars 
which supported the ceiling, and substituted a coating 
of plaster and paint. It is a matter of surprise to me 
that the inhabitants ever permitted such a profanation, 
being generally so proud of their revolutionary relics 
and deeds of arms. Those who now have charge of the 
building are busily engaged in discarding every indica- 
tion of their predecessors' taste, and are restoring the room 
to its original state. At the upper end of it, there is a 
wooden statue of Washington — the work of a cutter of 
ships' figure heads. The profile is considered excellent, 
and he is represented with his right foot upon the torn 



A, subaltern's furlough, 43 

bond which cemented the colonies to the mother country. 
On the pedestal is the following inscription : 

" First in War, 
First in Peace, 
F^rst in the hearts of his Countrymen." 

It is intended to fill a vacant niche behind the figure, 
if' ( which formerly contained the arms of England, with a 
brass plate bearing the Declaration of Independence as 
an inscription. The building is surmounted b}^ a tower, 
the lower part of which is brick ; and the upper, of 
wood, was added in 1828, imitating as closely as possi- 
ble the original one, which, being much decayed, was 
taken down soon after the Revolution. I had a very 
talkative old man to show me over it, who was a per- 
fect match for any of our Westminster, St. Paul's, or 
Tower guides. The bell in the brick tower was cast 
in 1753, Avith the following inscription upon it, well 
speaking the spirit of the times, which did not, however, 
burst forth until after the expiration of 20 years : — 

" Proclaim liberty in the land to all the inhabitants thereof. — Le- 
viticus, 25 chap. 10 verse. By order of the Assembly of the Pro- 
vince of Pennsylvania, for the State House of Philadelphia." 

My old conductor rested one hand upon a supporter, 
while I was copying the above inscription, and then fa- 
voured me with a long dissertation upon the blessings 
of liberty, and an abusive tirade against the English, 
winding up his discourse with informing me that the bell 
Avas rung when the Catholics gained their liberty in the 
old country. He took me up to the wooden tower, and 
descanted largely on the fine mechanism of the clock ; 
how many revolutions such a wheel performed in a mi- 
nute, and the thickness of each bar in the works ; how, 
when he discovered a fire in the city, he tolled the bell, 
so as to inform the inhabitants in what quarter it was. 
One toll signified north, two south, three east, and four 
west ; making a short pause between the tolls, as, one, 
and after a short interval of time, three in rapid suc- 
cession, siq^nified north-east; the streets running towards 



44 A subaltern's furlough. 

the cardinal points, the situation of the fire could be 
easily ascertained by the firemen. Having then led me 
on to the outer gallery of the tower, and pointed out the 
various buildings in the panorama beneath, and after ex- 
pressing his sorrow that the room where Congress sat 
during the greater part of the immortal struggle for free- 
dom should have been mutilated, we parted. 

I attended the District Court, which was sitting in a 
large carpeted room on the second floor, to witness the 
trial of an information, filed by the Attorney of the Unit- 
ed States, against goods landed without being mention- 
ed in the ship's invoice. There were not more than 
twenty people present when I entered, and a counsel, 
attired in a blue coat and black stock, was commencing 
his address to the jury: he possessed great fluency of 
language, and spoke warmly in defence of his client, an 
Englishman. On a marble slab, in a recess at the back 
of the judges' seat, is the following inscription to the 
memory of Washington's nephew : 

"This Tablet records 

the affection and respect 

Of the Members of the Philadelphia Bar, for 

BUSHROD WASHINGTON, 

An Associate Justice of the Supreme Court 

of the United States, 

alike distinguished 

For simplicity of manners 

And purity of heart, 

Fearless, dignified, and enlightened as a Judge, 

No influence or interest 

Could touch his integrity or 

Bias his judgment, 

A zealous Patriot and a Pious Christian. 

He died at Philadelphia, 

On the 26th of November, A. D. 1829, 

Leaving his professional brethren 

A spotless fame, 

And to his country 

The learning, labour, and wisdom, 

Of a long judicial life." 

Independence Square, about 270 paces each way, is 
prettily laid out with walks and fine trees, and surroun- 
ded by a strong iron railing ; but Washington, the ad- 



A subaltern's furlough. 45 

joining one, is both larger and a more fashionable pro- 
menade, being crowded between the hours of live and 
six in the evening with elegantly dressed females. The 
greatest objection to the manner in which all the squares 
are laid out is, that the grass is allowed to grow ; and 
when I was in Philadelphia, labourers were making hay 
in them. In this, as in other instances, the Americans 
prefer profit to appearances, or even comfort. A statue 
or monument is shortly to grace the centre of Washing- 
ington square, which w^as a burial ground, or Potter's- 
field, as it is termed, during the time the yellow-fever 
raged so violently in the city, at the end of the last cen- 
tury. 

The twenty-first annual exhibition of the Pennsylva- 
nia Academy of Fine Arts was holding in a spacious 
building constructed for the express purpose, containing 
a fine rotunda with dome, and several galleries for paint- 
ings and statues, or casts from celebrated busts : there 
are several specimens of Canova's and Chantrey's sculp- 
ture in the collection, which is extensive ; but I was no 
judge of its value, nor could the catalogue which I pur- 
chased at the door, give me much information as to the 
sculptors' names. Amongst the paintings, were some 
by Salvator Rosa, Vandyke, Rembrandt, West, Shee (Pre- 
sident R. A.,) Leslie (R. A.,) and a large one of " The 
dead Man restored to Life, by touching the bones of the 
prophet Elisha," by Washington Alston; but the greater 
proportion of the remainder displayed little talent — the 
portraits were young and stiff performances ; but I was 
probably more inclined to be fastidious from having so 
lately viewed West's noble effort ; and left the gallery 
with a very mean opinion of American artists in gene- 
ral. 

The great lion, however, of Philadelphia, is the enor- 
mous line-of-battle ship, the Pennsylvania, w^hich is on 
the stocks in the Navy-yard at the lower extremity of 
the city. I took advantage of the kindness of an officer 
in the American service, to walk over it ; and he also 
favoured me with its dimensions : — the keel was laid in 
1822, and the vessel finished to its present state in seven 
years ; the timber being exposed to a free circulation of 



46 

air for the prevention of dry rot ; it could, however, be 
prepared for sea in six months. The shed which protects 
it from the weather is 270 feet in length, 105 in height 
and 84 in breadth, with a reservoir at the top of the roof, 
which can be filled with water by means of a force- 
pump, the city water- works throwing it within 15 feet 
of the summit. The upper deck is 220 feet in length, 
and no forecastle ; the extreme breadth of beam 58 feet ; 
depth from spar deck to keelson, 44 feet 4 inches ; and 
draft of water 27 feet 6 inches. Her decks are 7 feet 
high, and from the orlop to the gun-deck is 7 feet 4 
inches. The anchors were wrought at Plymouth, Mas- 
sachusetts, and the sheet anchor weighs 10,171 lbs. 
When manned, she will carry a crew of 1500, including 
120 marines, and from 140 to 100 guns ; but is rated at 
the former number, 70 of which are 32-pounders weigh- 
ing 61 cwt. each ; 38 42-pound carronades of 27 cwt., 
and 32 42-pounders weighing 76 cwt. 1 qr. each. The 
spars for it are not yet made, but the main-mast will be 
135 feet in height, and 44 inches in diameter; and the 
extreme height from the keelson to the summit of the 
flag-pole, upwards of 300 feet : the guns were cast at 
Georgetown, near the city of Washington. 

Another shed near it contains a double-banked fri- 
gate of 60 guns, whose keel was laid in 1819, and could 
be fitted out for sea in forty days : the state cabins are 
panneled with mahogany and white maple ; the gun 
carriages of white, and the principal timbers of green 
oak : both vessels are considered by the Americans as 
well-built, and the frigate as a perfect model. Much 
trouble will be experienced in launching them ; for, the 
stocks being situated in a bight of the river, the mud has 
collected in great quantities from the eddies of the tide, 
and dry land is forming quickly between the keels and 
the river. The operation of reclaiming a large space of 
land about two miles in length, by a quarter in breadth, 
adjoining the Navy-yard, was taking place at this time. 
It appeared that some speculating person had obtained 
a grant of it, much to the chagrin of the land owners on 
the river's bank, who considered that their title extended 
to low, instead of, as was decided by law. to high-water 



47 

mark ; the fortunate speculator thus gained possession of 
a great space of land, which before the lapse of many 
years will be thickly covered with houses. 

The old hulk of the Cyane, of 36 guns, a trophy dur- 
ing the late war, is moored alongside the pier near the 
frigate, though it can scarcely be kept afloat, and is 
quite unserviceable. The Navy-yard is small, compared 
to any of those in England, but considerable additions 
were making: the barracks in it will contain 150 men, 
and from 60 to 70 were doing duty there at this time ; 
their undress uniform, a shabby-looking French gray, 
gave them any thing but a military appearance ; their 
full-dress of dark blue is much neater, nor could I ever 
understand why it was not usually worn. 

A fine Marine Asylum is building near the road to 
Gray's Ferry, a short distance from the city, on a most 
capacious plan ; the front of it being little less than 400 
feet in length, and a broad double verandah upon two 
sides. 

The scenery in the immediate vicinity of Philadelphia 
is tame and uninteresting, with the exception of one or 
two spots on the banks of the Schuylkill, where the face 
of the country is rather more broken and abrupt ; assum- 
ing in some places rather a romantic appearance. 
Advantage has been taken of these by gentlemen who 
have laid out their grounds with good taste, and much 
improved their farms by adopting the English system of 
agriculture. The citizens are permitted to walk through 
the gardens at certain seasons of the yeai — a liberty 
which to their credit is but little abused. The greatest 
lounge, however, for the inhabitants, appears to be the 
Fair Mount Water-works, upon the excellence of which 
they very justly pride themselves ; and at last, having 
expended a million of dollars in experiments, they have 
discovered a plan at once economical and serviceable. 
All attempts having failed, at an enormous expense, to 
supply the demand for water in the city, it was deter- 
mined to lay aside the use of steam for the introduction 
of water power ; and the present works were com- 
menced in 1819, by throwing a dam 1500 feet in length, 
at an obtuse angle across the Schuylkill, so as to be less 



48 A subaltern's furlough. 

exposed to the force of the current. A mill 238 feet in 
length, containing several double forcing-pumps, is situ- 
ated immediately below the dam on the left bank of the 
river, with a race-way to lead the water over eight 
wheels about sixteen feet in diameter, which can force 
nearly seven millions of gallons of water per day into 
the reservoir on the summit of a hill, 100 feet above 
the level of the river, and 50 above the highest part of 
the city. They contain nearly twenty millions of gallons ; 
and the present consumption of water does not exceed 
two millions, and in the winter months one million per 
day. The expenses of the mill are but four dollars (Ws. 
Sd.,) two men being sufficient to attend the works ; 
while that of steam was 206 dollars per day, and did not 
raise half the quantity. The Corporation are improving 
the gardens attached to the works, by the introduction of 
fountains, statues, &c. They are a place of great resort 
for strangers, to whom the simple and ingenious machine- 
ry proves very interesting, and the gates are daily be- 
set by a large assemblage of carriages. A w^ooden bridge 
of a single arch, of the enormous span of 340 feet, cross- 
es the Schuylkill in the immediate vicinity of the water- 
works ; being fifteen feet narrower in the centre than at 
the abutments ; with a roof and windows at the sides, 
which are walled in, as a protection against the weather; 
it presents a singular appearance to a person who has 
been accustomed to more substantial, but lighter-looking 
structures. There is a second wooden bridge nearly a 
mile below this one, with three arches and stone piers ; 
a marble obelisk at one extremity of it states that the cost 
of its construction was 300,000 dollars (62,500?.^ and 
recounts the great hardships and fatigue the workmen 
experienced in laying the foundation of the piers : the 
length of the bridge with its abutments, is 1300 feet ; 
the space of the centre arch being 195, and the width of 
the road upon it 42 feet. One of the piers was commen- 
ced in the middle of winter, 800,000 feet of timber being 
employed in the construction of the cofFer-dam : the ma- 
sonry of the pier was begun on Christmas day, 1802, 
and finished to low water mark in 41 days and nights ; 
though the foundation was on the rock at the amazing 



A subaltern's furlough. 49 

depth of 41 feet below the surface of the water ; being, 
it is supposed, the greatest depth at which regular ma- 
sonary has ever been constructed. Seven months were 
occupied in preparing the dam and repairing damages : 
the subaqueous work consuming in fact a great propor- 
tion of the expenditure. 

I had heard much of the expertness of the Philadelphia 
firemen, and feared I should be disappointed in my 
hopes of witnessing it. A few days, however, before I 
quitted the city, hearing the alarm-bell, I ran out, and, 
remembering the old man's instructions at the State 
House, took the requisite direction. Though I hurried 
as speedily as possible to the scene of action, when I arriv- 
ed, UDwards of fifteen engines and hose-carriages were in 
full play upon the fire, which had gained considerable 
head : but such an immense flood of water was poured 
upon it, that it was shortly extinguished. I afterwards 
walked to the house in which the carriage of the American 
Hose Company was kept, when some of the members 
very kindly drew out the carriage, and gave me a copy 
of the rules and by-laws they had established. It was 
decorated and painted in a most costly manner, and, 
with 1000 feet of hose, had been purchased for 1500 
dollars (250/.,) bearing the well-executed classical device 
of the car of Tydides and Nestor at the siege of Troy, 
as represented in Westall's (R. A.) painting, and the 
mo^^to "non sibi sed omnibus." The other carriages 
were all neatly painted and decorated in a similar 
manner. There are about thirty engine and sixteen hose 
companies ; but all the firemen, unlike those in other 
cities, are volunteers, and defray the expenses of their 
engines from their own private funds ; the first com- 
pany of the kind being established by Dr. Franklin. 
The hose formed upon the same spirited principle as 
the engine companies, were established for the purpose 
of supplying the latter with water in greater quantities 
than the old system of carrying it in buckets. Each car- 
riage has a large cylindrical roller in the centre, round 
which the hose is lapped, with brass screws and joints 
at intervals of about 50 feet through its entire length. 
One end is screwed into a street plug, and the water 

VOL, I. — E. 



50 A 'subaltern's FURLOUGH; 

forced through the hose to the engine, which can have? 
a greater supply of water than required. The hose 
companies who arrive first at the fire taking the nearest 
plugs, lend their surplus hose to the last comers, who 
are thus enahled to bring the water from almost any 
distance in the adjoining streets. There are about 100 
members in each company, generally young merchants 
and tradesmen, amongst whom there is a great esprit de 
corps, and anxiety to reach a fire before any other com- 
pany. Fines are imposed upon members who "attend 
upon such occasions unequipped in their thick water- 
proof dress, and glazed hat, with badge upon it, or 
who leave a fire without permission from a director ;. 
and there are many other similar regulations. Each 
member also pays a certain sum upon his entrance into 
the company, and a small annual subscription. It was 
an interesting sight to witness the regularity with which 
the various companies moved rapidly through the streets 
at night to the place where their services were required, 
by the lights of numerous torches, and with the ringing 
of the large bells suspended from the cars ; and, after 
the fire was extinguished, all moved away to their respec- 
tive station-houses, where the roll was called over, to 
ascertain the absentees. Such an enthusiastic public 
spirit is doubtless kept alive only by the constant call 
for the services of the young men ; and every fire will 
tend to diminish it in some degree, an edict having 
been lately passed, by wh'ch a heavy fine is imposed 
upon any one erecting a frame house within the limits 
of the city. 

The Bank of the United States (or, as the American?' 
term it, Uncle Sam's strong box) was commenced in 
1819, after the plan of the Parthenon at Athens, omitting 
most of the merely decorative parts of the building ; 
and is situated in Chesnut-street, the most fashoinable 
street in the city. The building is entirely of white mar- 
ble (161 by 87 feet,) the porticoes at each end being sup- 
ported by eight Doric columns, each 27 feet in height, 
and 4 feet 6 inches in diameter. "When viewed by 
moon light, I think I never saw any thing more soft or 
beautiful. The banking-room, in the centre of the 



A subaltern's furlough. 51 

building", is 81 by 48, and 35 feet in height, with a 
t€sselated floor of American and Italian marble ; upon 
each side of it are rooms for the directors, engravers, 
and copper-plate printers. The capital of the bank is 
35,030,003 dollars, or rather more than 7i millions ster- 
ling, divided into 350,003 shares of 100 dollars each ; 
the Government being proprietors of one-fifth. It has 
twenty-two branch banks, distributed in various parts 
of the Union. Great consternation was created amongst 
the directors, during my residence in the country, by the 
promulgation of General Jackson's veto upon the bank 
charter, which will expire in 1836. The original charter 
was granted for twenty years ; and a bill for renewing 
it from the 3d of March, 1836, had passed both houses of 
Congress, but did not receive the assent of the President. 
His veto most fully laid before the people his rea ons for 
taking so decisive a step ; some of the strongest being, 
that, " out of twenty-five millions of private stock in the 
corporation, eight and a half millions were held by 
foreigners, mostly of Great Britain ;" and that from 
two to five millions of specie crossed the Atlantic every 
year to pay the bank dividends ; that, out of the twenty- 
five directors of the bank, twenty were chosen by the 
citizens stockholders, — all foreign stockholders being 
excluded from having any voice in these elections ; 
that foreigners already possessed about one-third of the 
stock ; and that the entire control of the institution would 
necessarily fall into the hands of a few citizen stock- 
holders ; and the ease with which the object would be 
accomplished, would be a temptation to designing 
men to secure the control in their own hands, by 
monopolizing the remaining stock ; and thus would 
there be the danger of the President and Directors being 
able to elect themselves from year to year, and manage 
the whole concerns of the bank, without responsibility or 
control ; and that great evils might arise to the country 
from such a concentration of power, in the hands of a few 
men, who were not responsible to the people. Should 
the stock of the bank pass into the hands of foreigners, 
and the United States be at war with their country, 
their own funds would be used in support of the hostile 



53 A subaltern's furlough. 

fleets and armies. — The President then recommends a 
bank purely American, and thinks it would be expedient 
to prohibit the sale of its stock to foreigners, under 
penalty of absolute forfeiture ; he says, too, that it is 
no argument in favour of re-chartering the bank, " that 
the calling in its loans will produce great distress ; for, 
if it has been well managed, the pressure will be light 
in winding up the concerns ; and, if badly managed, 
the severity of the pressure will be the fault of the 
bank, and it must be responsible ; and that, if it produce 
distress, it will furnish a reason against renewing a 
power which has been so obviously abused." From 
the day this veto was issued, the popular cry became, 
" Down with the bank, and no English lords, or moneyed 
aristocracy." 



FURLOUGH. 53 



CHAPTER IV. 

!No eye hath seen such scarecrows ! I would not march through 
Coventry with them, that's flat. 

Shakspeare. 

He feeds yon alms-house, neat, but "void of state, 
Where age and want sit smiling at the gate ; 
Him portion'd maids, apprenticed ophans blest, 
Tlie young who labour, and the old who rest. 

Pope. 

As he passed by Coldbath Fields, he saw 

A solitary ceil — 
And the Devil was charm'd, for it gave him a hint 

For improving the prisons of hell. 

PORSOK. 

The Philadelphians, and I think I may include the 
Americans in general, have a great rage for playing at 
soldiers, and fondness for military display : scarcely a 
day elapsed on which I did not see either the Jackson 
Guards, Hibernian Greens, Washington Greys, Philadel- 
phia Blues, or some such named troops, parading with 
bands of music up one street and down another, until 
they had run nearly the gauntlet of the whole city, w^hen 
they were dismissed. There was nothing objectionable 
in their appearance as volunteers, for all were particu- 
larly well clothed, with clean and neat accoutrements ; 
and, as to stature, many were exceedingly fine-looking 
companies; but although they could keep step in march- 
ing, diminish their front in a narrow part of the street, 
and wheel to the right and left at the corners tolerably 
well, yet the words of command which were frequently 
given savoured but little of a military education, or as 
if much attention had been paid to the study of the evolu- 
tions. They have also a singular custom (certainly 
well adapted for keeping up a feeling of good will be- 
tween different States) of entire companies visiting each 
other; and they are frequently put to considerable ex- 
pense in providing for visitors upon so extensive a scale. 
I saw a company of the State Fencibles about seventy 

E* 



54 A subaltern's furlough. 

strong, with a negro band of music at their head, leave 
Philadelphia on a visit to some Boston troops at the dis- 
tance of three hundred miles, where they would be most 
hospitably treated, and live at the expense of those to 
whom the visit was made. The Bostonians would pro- 
bably in the course of the summer return the compliment 
in due form. It may be supposed that these visits create 
a great stir in the city ; one company escorts another 
into the place, and several others accompany it to see the 
different sights ; their bands give the citizens a musical 
treat at the theatre ; and the corps have more marching 
and parading, in a ten days' visit, than a regiment of the 
line would have to undergo in a whole month of peaceable 
times. When the State Fencibles embarked on board 
the steamer which was to convey them forty miles up 
the Delaware, the vessels at anchor, the wharfs, streets, 
and houses were filled with spectators, who, as the 
steamer pushed off, and the band struck up the national 
air of " Yankee Doodle," gave three such exliilarating 
cheers that a person might have imagined the detach- 
ment was proceeding upon some dangerous expedition, 
instead of a feasting and sight-seeing visit to their breth- 
ren '• down East." These volunteer corps are com- 
posed of respectable young men, who form themselves 
into companies, for the purpose of avoiding being called 
out to the militia trainings, which take place annually, 
and which are generally much more ludicrous than is re- 
presented even in England, and where the citizen sol- 
diers learn more that w^ould unfit them for actual service, 
in one training, than six months' severe good drill would 
break ihem of The system is altogether deprecated by 
every reasonable man in the United States; and all exer- 
tions are made to cast ridicule upon, and bring it into dis- 
repute. One man will appear upon parade with a top- 
boot on one leg, a silk stocking on the other, and a 
broom-stick over liis shoulder ; \vhile his rear-rank man 
has one arm labelled " right," the other " left," a wooden 
sword, a pair of green spectacles, and no coat. I'he offi- 
cers being appointed by votes, an ostler at a small ta- 
vern in Philadelphia bore the high commission of Colo- 
nel, and was carried about the country in a raree-show, 



A subaltern's furlough. 55 

as the gallant Colonel Pluck. A regiment also appear- 
ed in New- York, clothed in every imaginable costume, 
from a bare-legged Highlander down to the turbanned 
Turk. Some poor man, however, had a greater mar- 
tinet for a captain than is generally the case, and was 
ordered off parade to change his dress, and return pro- 
perly equipped, " which order (to use the man's own 
words) he considered unmilitary and illegal, and there- 
fore respectfully declined to obey." For this act of in- 
subordination he was tried by a court-martial, sentenced 
to pay a fine often dollars, and, in default thereof, to be 
imprisoned. He chose the latter alternative : and from 
his place of confinement addressed a letter to the public, 
in which, after a statement of his case, he thus describes 
his dress; — "It was proved to the Court that my equip- 
ments were strictly according to law — that I had an or- 
dinary powder-horn, but which the Captain stated was 
too large for a musket — that my dress w^as as follows : 
— A gentleman's ordinary haircloth cap — a pair of com- 
mon spectacles — an ordinary grey mixed cloth coat, 
which I usually wore in the store in which I am (or I 
should say was) a clerk — a paper collar, instead of a 
linen or cotton one, and of the ordinary and usual size, 
and no larger — a common vest — a pair of brown drill- 
ing pantaloons, my stockings drawn over instead of 
under the pantaloons — and shoes tied with a string. 
The Court imposed a fine of ten dollars, which, consi- 
dering to be illegal and oppressive, and knowing it to 
be unjust, I will not have extorted from me ; and, for 
so declining to surrender my right as a citizen, I am 
now imprisoned, Avhether legally or not may hereafter 
appear; for I consider it virtually a lawless and ruth- 
less violation, not only of my own, but of the personal 
rights and personal liberty of every citizen of this State," 
It is rather singular that the Government have not long 
since dispensed with such asj'stem; for, so long as it 
continues in vogue, they can scarcely hope to see any 
thing but mountebanks in place of effective soldiers. 
The officers of the volunteer companies are also elect- 
ed by vote, and such as the following is a common ad- 
vertisement :■ — 



56 A subaltern's furlough. 

"Jacksont Guards — Attention! — You will parade^ 
completely equipped, to-morrow morning-, at ten o'clock, 
in front of the Napoleon House: each man provided 
with thirteen rounds blank cartridge. After parade, an 
election will take place for one lieutenant-colonel and 
one captain." 

On my way to the office of a rail-road, which was 
opened on the 7th of June, between the city and Ger- 
man Town, six miles distant, I witnessed a most extra- 
ordinary mode of selling the stock in some new bank. 
It was a scene worthy of St. Giles's or Billingsgate: and 
such as I should never have expected to see in the 
quiet city of Philadelphia. The manner in which it 
was disposed of was as follows : the sellers were in a 
house, with a small aperture in a window shutter, only 
sufficiently large to admit a man's hand, and through 
which he delivered his money; but having received his 
scrip, after a lapse of some time, it was impossible for him 
to withdraAv through the crowd of purchasers; no one would 
make way, lest he should thereby lose his chance of ever 
gaining the window. The only plan then was, that one 
of his friends threw him the end of a rope, which he fas- 
tened round his body, and part of the mob, who came 
as mere lookers-on, dragged him out by main strength, 
frequently with the loss of the better half of his apparel. 
Many had, however, come prepared for the worst, by 
leaving their coats, shirts, and hats, at home. It was 
here that the strongest went to the wall, and various 
were the schemes adopted to keep possession. One fel- 
low had very knowingly brought a gimlet with him, and, 
boring it into the shutter, held on with one hand, while 
he fought most manfully v^^ith the other ! A bystander 
told me that a large party had leafjued together for mutual 
support, and taken possession of the window the preced- 
ino- eveninsr; but that a strong-er one attacked them in 
the morning, and drove them from their position, though 
not without several heads, arms, and legs, being broken 
in the affray. It appeared, therefore, that the only 
chance a peaceable citizen had of obtaining any stock 
was to hire the greatest bully he could find to fight his 
battles for him. This scene continued throuo-hout three 



A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 57 

days; and, besides many severe and dangerous wounds 
which were inflicted in the contest, one man was killed. 
In consequence, however, of this and similar disturb- 
ances, meetings of repectable citizens were held, to de- 
vise means to prevent a recurrence of them on like oc- 
casions; and, as an additional proof that they were asham- 
ed of those proceedings, one of them expressed a hope 
"that I had not witnessed a sale of bank stock." Pursu- 
ing my may to the rail-road, I overheard a bricklayer 
call out from his kiln to another at some distance, "1 
say Jem, Bob'll have a blow-out to-morrow." "Why? 
how?" "He's gone to buy stock, and he'll work his 
way amongst them, I know." I had been detained so 
long, that I did not arrive at the railway until two 
minutes past nine, and the car had started as the clock 
struck ; so I passed the two hours, until the departure of 
the next train, by walking out into the country. It was 
the first time I had well examined any American farm- 
ing, which, to an Englishman's eye, appears to great dis- 
advantage. To this effect, the substitution of zig-zig, or, 
as they term them, worm fences of dead wood, instead 
of the neat quickset hedges of English husbandry, does 
not a little contribute. 

Locomotive engines had not been introduced, and 
horse cars were substituted until the railway should be 
completed, a single road only being at pri S'nt finished; 
but many hundreds of workmen, principally Irish, were 
employed in laying an additional one: the castings were 
imported from England, and the chairs were firmly 
fastened into blocks of grey granite, the foundation be- 
ing well secured by a trench of thirty inches filled with 
Macadamized stones, well rammed down; and where 
any rails appeared to give way, or start out from each 
other, those opposite were connected with them by a rod 
of iron, and gravel overlaid. The highest embankment 
on the road was forty perpendicular feet, and the only 
very heavy work was the blasting a ridge of granite, 
through which we passed, four miles from the city. 
The carriage ran remarkably easy, and, though carry- 
ing twenty passengers (and calculated to hold forty), 
the horse took it the six miles in forty minutes, the road 



58 A subaltern's furlough. 

rising thirty-two feet per mile throughout the distance. 
The usual contrivance of a lever to regulate the speed 
of the carriages was used, having a brush at the lower 
end for the purpose of sweeping the rail before the 
wheel. A busy scene presented itself at the place where 
the cars stopped, on the edge of a wood, half a mile 
from German Town. A large concourse of molasses- 
beer and oyster sellers had established themselves under 
the trees ; several frame-houses were erectinof for the 
sale of egg-nog and mint julaps ; and land, which had 
been of little value a twelvemonth before, was now let- 
ting at half a dollar per foot, per month. German Town 
is a straggling place, three miles in length, and inter- 
spersed wilh gardens and orchards, which give it rathei 
the appearance of a large village. It was here that 
Washington experienced a repulse in his attack upon an 
English division, in 1777. I walked through a large 
stone house, the property of Mr. Chew, which was the 
principal scene of action, and most gallantly defended by 
five compaaies of the 40th regiment, under Colonel Mus- 
grave, against incessant attacks of an American column, 
under General Sullivan. It stands on a rising ground, 
about two hundred yards from the main road, and still 
bears marks of the light artillery, which was brought to 
bear upon it. I addressed myself to a man who appear- 
ed to have been left in charge of the house, by the pro- 
prietor: but he answered me so coolly, and appeared so lit- 
tle inclined to give any inf3rmation, that I turned away, 
and commenced a conversation with his wife, who vo- 
lunteered to show me through the building, and pointed 
out the grave of the English General Agnew, in front 
of the stables, near which lay also several ornamental 
statues, which had lost heads or arms during- the fio-ht. 

We were only thirty minutes returning to Philadel- 
phia, where a great concourse of people had assembled, 
to witness the arrival of the cars, it being the first road 
of the description which had been opened near the city. 

The Americans, particularly in that portion of the 
country which gives birth to the Yankees, have acquired 
a reputation for loquacity and inquisitiveness, which 
does not extend to the Philadelphians, who appear 



A SUBALTERNS FURLOUGH. 59 

rather to inherit the Gluaker taciturnity ; for, during the 
first three days I was at the hotel, not a single indivi- 
dual addressed a word to me at table. All were too busy 
to ask questions, or to pay the slightest attention to any 
one's wants but their own ; as they ate, so they departed 
in silence. At last, fearing I should lose the use of my 
tongue, I took courage on the fourth day, and made 
some common-place observation to a dark, stout man 
who sat next to me, and who always had an English- 
looking pointer under his chair. Judging of the master 
by his dog, I immediately decided he must be a country- 
man; but no! he could speak English but very imperfectly, 
and as he doled out to me a long story in pitiful accents, 
about his losing 1500 dollars the preceding day, I knew 
him to be Monsieur Chabert the fire-king, having read 
an advertisement in the papers offering 500 dollars re- 
ward for the recovery of the stolen property. I went 
the same evening to the Masonic Hall, a room of noble 
dimensions, lighted by gas, from private works, to witness 
his performance ; the attendance was very thin, and the 
audience appeared to take very little interest in his lec- 
ture upon the various qualities of poisons, and the impu- 
nity with which a large quantity m^ight be taken, provid- 
ed the antidote followed immediately : for all talked in- 
cessantly. They were more attentive when he commen- 
ced drinking the poisons, passing red-hot bars of iron 
over his tongue, swallowing oil heated to 380 degrees, 
Fahrenheit, and burning a cloak off his back, by enter- 
ing a temple in which 300 cartridges exploded. Shouts 
of laughter accompanied the awkward attempts of some 
few aspirants to perform the same feats. 

The historical compositions upon many of the signs 
displayed over the small inns, in the suburbs near Ken- 
sington, was painted in no ordinar}^ style, and numerous 
groups were introduced in the subjects, in quite an artist- 
like and classical style, such as in " The Landing of 
Columbus in the New World ; Washington crossing 
the Delaware on the 25th of December, 1776; the Sur- 
render of Lord Cornwallis, and Penn's treaty with the 
Indians," which was very near the spot where the elm- 
tree stood under which the treaty was made. The tree, 



60 A subaltern's furlough. 

which measured twenty-four feet in circumference, was 
blown down a few years since, and a small marble obelisk 
now marks the spot where it stood. It is within thirty 
yards of the Delaware, and an inscription upon it gives 
the date of Penn's birth, and death, the former in. 1644, 
and the latter in 1718, and on the other sides are — 

Treaty ground 

of 
William Penn, 

and the 

Indian Natives, 

1682. 



" Unbroken Faith." 

Pennsylvania, 

founded 

1681, 

by deeds of Peace. 

Penn's name is sufficiently immortalized ; but I think 
one slight shade is drawn over his fame, by his having 
deserted the infant city two years after the first house 
was built, and returned to England, where he died. Had 
his plan but been rigidly adhered to, there would have 
been none of these mean-looking houses on the water 
front. By singular good chance, however, his original 
intention bids fair to be carried into effect. An eccen- 
tric, but public-spirited man, Stephen Girard, a wealthy 
banker, whose sentiments appear to have been in accor- 
dance with the founder's, having lately died, bequeathed 
an immense sum for the express purpose of beautifying 
the city. The history of this man, who died one of the 
wealthiest private individuals in the world, is very re- 
markable. It appears that he was born at Bourdeaux, 
in France, about 1746, and at the age of fourteen sailed 
for the West Indies, as a cabin-boy. Thence he traded 
for several years to New- York, as mate of a ves^l ; and 
soon after settled in Philadelphia, where, at the conclu- 
sion^ of the revolutionary war, he kept a small shop ; 
dealing in old naval stores, such as iron, rigging, &c. ; 
and his small frame-house was situated on the same spot 
that the elegant mansion in which he died now occupies. 



A SUBALTERN^S FURLOtJGH. 61 

At times he was engaged as a pedlar, journeying up 
and down the country to farm-houses, and disposing of 
groceries, and ready-made clothing, returning to the city 
when his stock was exhausted ; and by degrees amassed 
such a sum of money, that he ranked as one of the first 
merchants in the city. At the expiration of the charter 
of the bank of the United States in 1810, he established 
a private bank, the capital of which in a few years was 
augmented to five millions of dollars. From this cir- 
cumstance, and from taking a loan of five millions dur- 
ing the late war, receiving 100 seven per cent, stock for 
70, with a fortunate speculation in the stock of the pre- 
sent bank of the United States, his wealth increased to so 
vast an extent, that at his death it was estimated at four- 
teen millions of dollars (three millions sterling,) the 
whole of which, with the exception of a few legacies to 
his brother, and nieces, amounting to 140,000 dollars 
and small annuities to his servants, he bequeathed to the 
difTerent charitable institutions, towards the improvement 
of Philadelphia, and New-Orleans, and for the establish- 
ment of a college in the former city, for the residence 
and accommodation of at least three hundred scholars. 
In his will he prescribes the dimensions of the various 
rooms, and that the buildinof " shall be at least 110 feet 
east and west, and 160 north .nd south ; shall be three 
stories in height, and each story at least 15 feet high in 
the clear, from the floor to the cornice, and that it shall 
be fire-proof inside and outside, and no wood used except 
for doors, windows, and shutters ; the floors and land- 
ings, as well as the roof, to be covered with marble slabs, 
securely laid in mortar." For the building and esta- 
blishment of this college he bequeathed two millions of 
dollars ; and the income of so much of it as remained 
unexpended was directed to maintain as many poor white 
orphans, between the age of six and ten years, as it was 
adequate to. It was also ordered that they should be 
instructed in the various branches of a sound education, 
in the French and Spanish (not forbidding, but not 
recommending the Latin or Greek) languages ; and it 
was stated, that he would have them taught ''facts and 
things, rather than words and signs ;^^ and that after 
VOL. I, — r. 



62 A subaltern's furlough. 

they had attained the ages between fourteen and eigh" 
teen, they should he hound out to suitable occupations 
according to their capacities. He also enjoins and re- 
quires that "no ecclesiastic, missionary, or minister of 
any sect whatsoever, should ever hold or exercise any 
station or duty whatever in the said college ; nor 
should any such person ever be admitted for an^ purpose 
or as a visitor, within the premises appropriated to the 
purposes of the said college." But, in making this re- 
striction, he states that he does not mean to cast any 
reflection upon any sect whatsoever; but as there is 
such a multitude of sects, and diversity of opinion among 
them, it is his desire that the tender minds of the orphans 
should be free from the excitement which clashing doc- 
trines, and sectarian controversy, are apt to produce ] 
and it is his desire that the instructors of the college 
should instil into their minds " tJie purest pi^inciples oj 
morality ; so that, on their entrance into life, they may, 
from inclination and Jiahit^ evince benevolence towards 
their felloto- creatures, and a love of truth, sobriety, and 
industry, adopting at the same time such religious tenets 
as their matured reason may enable them to prefer." If 
the two millions of dollars were insufficient for building 
the college and maintaining as many orphans as might 
apply for admission, he left a farther legacy for that pur- 
pose. He also bequeathed half a million of dollars, the 
income of which was to be applied exclusively for lay- 
ing out a street, to be called Delaware Avenue, along 
the heads of the docks in front of the city, and for pulling 
dow^n all buildings between it and the water, within the 
limits of the city; to remove all wooden buildings, and 
lo prohibit any being built hereafter within the said li- 
mits : his intention being to make that part of the city cor- 
respond better with the appearance of the interior ; and, 
in case the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania failed to 
pass the laws, with regard to the improvements he re- 
quired, before the expiration of a year from the time of 
his death, the whole bequest, excepting that for the col- 
lege, should revert to the United States for the purposes 
of internal navigation^ " and no other." When I arrived 
in the city, all the necessary laws had been passed ; and 



A subaltern's furlough. 63 

a fine of 500 dollars was to be imposed upon any one 
who built a frame or wooden house within the limits. 
Preparations had also commenced for building the college, 
widening the streets near the river, and in every way 
complying with the testator's w411. 

The following Sunday I was more fortunate in the 
Aveather, and attended divine service at Christ Church, 
one of the neatest religious edifices in the city. But 
every thing appeared new and strange to me — there was 
no clerk, and the congregation read the responses aloud. 
The service, too, like the interior of the State House, had 
been modernized, and had been deprived of much of its 
solemnity, in my opinion, by being rendered into fami- 
liarly modern English. Emblematic of the country, 
every thing old was discarded. A gentleman, who sat 
near me, very deliberately rose from his seat, and walked 
across the aisle to the occupant of another pew, with whom 
he shook hands, sat down, and, after conversing with him 
for some minutes, resumed his own seat. I ought to state, 
however, that this was the only instance of such dis- 
respectful conduct which came under my observation ; 
the Americans in general being very attentive to their 
religious duties, and scrupulously respectful of the de- 
votion of their neighbours. The number of religious 
sects in Philadelphia is such, that Girard's college would 
have barely contained a representative from each deno- 
mination. There are no fewer than nine Protestant epis- 
copal churches ; four Roman Catholic ; nineteen Presby- 
terian ; one Scotch Presbyterian ; ten Methodists ; three 
Reformed Dutch; six Baptists; five German Lutheran; 
six Quakers ; one Free Quakers ; one Covenanters ; two 
German Reformed ; two Universalists ; two Synagogues ; 
one Bible Christian; one Mariners' Church; one Sweden- 
borgian ; ten Unitarians ; one Moravian ; one Menonists, 
or Dunkers ; one Swedish Lutheran ; one Mount Zion ; 
in addition to these, the Evangelical Society have erected 
four in the suburbs. None of them are remarkable for 
their exterior beauty, but are generally so plain as scarcely 
to be distinguished from private dwelling-houses. 

The markets are excellent; particularly one long range 
of buildings in High Street, up the centre of which it 



64 A subaltern's furlough. 

extends for about three-quarters of a mile. They are a 
perfect pattern of neatness, though not to be compared 
in grandeur or convenience to that at Liverpool, being 
merely roofs supported en brick pillars, with a single 
row of stalls on each side of the passage ; yet the most de- 
licate lady might w^alk at any time of day from one to the 
other end without inconvenience or annoyance. It is con- 
sidered the best beef market in the Union, and is well 
supplied with fruit and vegetables of every description, 
excepting Irish potatoes, a good bushel of which, coming 
direct from Europe, is considered no mean present. I 
think that I scarcely ever tasted a good potato any where 
south of New- York. The costume of the butchers (white 
coats and aprons) is much cleanlier looking, and more 
becoming, than the dirty blue of the English knights of 
the cleaver and hatchet. 

The regularity of the streets much pleased me upon 
Hrst landing ; but, after I had gained some little experi- 
ence by a week's hard walking, I began to look upon^ 
them as rather monotonous, and to wish that there was 
more than a solitary crooked one. The city occupies the 
space of ground between Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, 
which are about two miles apart ; all the streets running 
from the former to the latter, due east and west, are, with 
the exception of High Street, named after various trees. 
There are but eight of them, and their names may be 
formed into the couplet of 

Sassafras, Cedar, Chesnut, Vine, 
Mulberry, Spruce, High, Walnut, Pine ; 

While those again which cross them at right angles, run- 
ning due north and south, are numbered from the rivers 
up to Broad Street, which divides the city into two un- 
equal parts, there being thirteen streets between it and 
the Delaware, and only eight between it and the Schuyl- 
kill. The city is consequently chequered, as it were, 
like a chess-board, by these divisions and subdivisions ; 
the squares (as the inhabitants term them) being solid, or 
blocks of buildings. This regularity, however, is very 
convenient for a stranger ; and, if he only knows the points 



A SUBALTERN S FITRLOUGH. 65. 

of the compass, it is impossible iie can lose his way; but, 
without that, he would have as much difficulty in finding 
his hotel, as a mariner would in finding his port without 
knowing its bearings. It puzzled me a good deal at first 
for, if I asked any one the way to such a place, the answer 
was invariably some such as " Go four squares higher up 
and you will find it on the west side of north thirteenth, 
next to Sassafras." " Thank you," said I, " for the in- 
formation — west side of north thirteenth, next to Sassa- 
fras !" how concise! I had then to box the compass ; and, 
after a quarter of an hour's hot walking, began to despair, 
of finding^he spot; so, inquiring again, would discover 
that I was not to search far hollow squares ; but that, if 
I returned, I should find the place on the west side of 
north thirteenth, next to Race — " next to Race ! why I 
was told but a few minutes since that it was next to Sas- 
safras." " Well, but they are the same, I guess ; only 
Sassafras is rather to long a name." So running down 
the longitude of the city again, until I gained the required 
latitude of 13 north, I bore direct down the street, and 
soon arrived at my destination ; thinking it strange that 
they should call a street Race, when races were forbidden 
by law in Pennsylvania. 

Though the exterior appearance of the houses exceeds 
those in English towns, from the bricks being painted red, 
and not dimmed by the black smoke of coal fires, while 
the windows are set off by the smart green Venetian shut- 
ters, yet the streets are but badly paved and lighted, and 
worse kept as to cleanliness. I have seen innumerable 
pigs running about, and rooting, ad libitum, in the most 
fashionable parts of the town ; and have been obliged to 
turn off' the causeway into the road, with danger of being 
run over by a carriage or an equestrian, because it was 
blocked up with piles of merchandize and empty chests — 
as if the storekeeper to whom they belonged was proud 
of making a display that he was a dealer on a great scale. 
Day after day would those identical nuisances be in exist- 
ence, and tolerated by the citizens as a matter of course ; 
because, in fact, to them it was nothing uncommon — 
quite an every-day sight. 

The appearance of the two most fashionable squares is 



66 A subaltern's furlough. 

much marred by the position of a prison which occupies 
nearly one side of each. But the most unsightly build- 
ing", and that which is least in accordance with the habits 
and sentiments of most Americans, as to its interior econo- 
my, is that Bastile, the Penitentiary ; the principles of 
which institution have been so ably described by former 
travellers. For my own part, I could not view its lofty 
castellated walls and towers, loop-holed windows, port- 
cullis, and ponderous iron studded gates, without a shud- 
der at the fate of its wretched inmates. Whoever views 
the establishment will confess that the Americans have 
carried punishment for crime beyond even death itself 
It is strange that they should hesitate to take away the 
life of man for any crime short of murder ; and yet should 
inflict perpetual solitary confinement as more lenient : 
condemning an unfortunate being to be for ever cut off 
from all intercourse with his fellow-creatures, debarred 
the use of any thing which might give excitement to his 
mind, and doomed to linger away year after year in a 
miserable existence, 

" Until just Death, kind umpire of mens' miseries, 
With siveet enlargement doth dismiss Am." 

I asked the opinion of a keeper who had witnessed the 
effects of this system, and his answer was, " I would 
sooner be hung twice over, sir." If ever the good citi- 
zens of Philadelphic? may expect a visit from the shade 
of the venerable founder of their city, I should imagine 
it will be to express his abhorrence at an institution 
worthy only of the best days of the Spanish Inquisi- 
tion. 

Ic is said that Philadelphia possesses more real and 
ready capital, and that the merchants' speculations are 
more confined to the latter, than is the case in any other 
city in the States. The manufactures are extensive, espe- 
cially the warping-mills of which there are upwards of 
one hundred in the immediate vicinity ; and, since wood 
fuel has become more scarce, a great trade has been car- 
ried on, up the Schuylkill and Lehigh rivers, with the coal 
mines, 100 milei distant. Though the coal in summer is 



A subaltern's furlough. 6t 

seldom under seven dollars, and in winter upwards of 
eleven dollars, per ton ; yet it has almost superseded the 
use of wood, and the demand even exceeds the supply. 
It is of a hard quality, nearly as brilliant as glass, will 
bear turning, and emits very little smoke : but that which 
is termed "anthracite" will not blaze or burn easily, 
unless English coal is mixed with it ; and this is imported 
in vessels from Liverpool as ballast. Mines have been 
opened only a few years since at Mount Carbon and 
Lehigh, and are daily becoming more lucrative and ex- 
tensive. 

Like all American towns, Philadelphia teems with 
" knowledge for the people:" there being eight daily, one 
twice-a-week, and thirteen weekly newspapers ; seven 
monthly, and four quarterly publications. Of the latter 
the American Review is well edited. 

Altogether, I have seen but few cities with which it will 
not bear a comparison; and, in my poor opinion, it is su- 
perior to all on the continent of North America. I could 
not spare time for more than a ten days' residence there ; 
and though during that time I did my best to satisfy my 
curiosity, I regretted to leave it without having seen all 
1 wished. 



68 A subaltern's furlough. 



CHAPTER V. 

Boats, ships, barges mark the roughened stream : 
This way and that they difFerent points pursue, 
So mix the motions, and so shifts the view. 

9ayage. 

-all's still, as 'ere began 



Tlie fight ; for, when it did, they cheered and ran. 

Hill. 

Thus was Corinth lost and won. 

Btron. 

At six, A. M., on the 13th of June, I embarked in one 
of the "Citizens' Union Line" steamers, and proceeded 
down the Delaware at the spanking rate of fifteen knots 
an hour. A few minutes after I had been on board, 
seeing a negro ringing a hand-bell up and down the 
decks, and having my eyes and ears open for every thing 
new, I walked towards him with the expectation of ac- 
quiring some valuable information ; when, with the Sten- 
torian voice of a town-crier, he sung out, "Gentlemen 
who wish to take breakfast, please walk to the Captain's 
office, and take tickets — also, pay their fare." There 
were from 150 to 170 passengers on board ; so I in vain 
strove to penetrate the dense mass collected round the 
small sentry-box office, and therefore commenced inspect- 
ing the various barbers' shops, washing-rooms, dressing- 
rooms, and bar-rooms, with which the upper-deck was 
covered. In the forepart of the vessel, a man had open- 
ed a small shop for the sale of indelible marking-ink, 
with types arranged for stamping, which appeared to be 
in great request ; while in the stern were a knot of poli- 
ticians discussing the merits of the tariff bill, and poring 
for the last news from Congress over the morning pa- 
pers, which they had purchased from some of the little 
urchins who crowd the piers and vessels previous to start- 
ing. I had, however, scarcely studied the various groups, 
or come to any fixed determination who and what the 
principal orators were, judging only from a physiogno- 
mical view of them, when I again heard the black crier 
and his bell, with a shriller and more decisive tone, 



A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 69 

screaming out, "Gentlemen a'int paid their fare will 
please walk to the Captain's office!" where I found 
nearly as great a throng as before ; but, being more per- 
severing in my efforts to pierce a crowd which remind- 
ed me of the stock-selling scene, I at last obtained three 
scrips (or tickets,) — one for breakfast, to be returned 
when called for at table : the second to be given on go- 
ing ashore ; and a third, I think, for the railway wa- 
gons, or the steam-boat in the Chesapeake. 

The American river steamers are noble vessels, and, 
the engines working upon deck, such ample accommoda- , 
tion is afforded, that between two and three hundred pas- 
sengers can sit down to breakfast in the cabin, which 
extends from stem to stern, excepting a small portion 
panelled off in the after part, which is held sacred to the 
ladies alone, " No admittance for gentlemen" being paint- 
ed in legible characters over the door. The accustom- 
ed shrine of Bacchus, to which the gentlemen pay their 
repeated and enthusiastic devotions, is exposed to the 
gaze of all admirers at the forepart of their cabin. No 
man of course would be so unconscionable as to expect 
any thing approaching to comfort at the table of a steam- 
boat ; so I should advise him to get rid of his meals as 
speedily as possible, just as he would of any unpleasant 
duty which must be performed ; and then let him breathe 
the fresh air again upon deck, where, if the beauties of 
nature have no charm for him, he can pull out his 
watch and count what number of revolutions the paddles 
perform in a minute, or work the calculation of how ma- 
ny knots the vessel cuts through the water per hour. For 
my own part, I always preferred being on deck on a cold 
day, though a shower of rain might accompany it, to 
stewing below with 150 passengers; and used often to 
imagine what a hurry and scuffle there would be in the 
eabin, if the vessel "collapsed its flue" as the Americans 
would say), or, in plain old English, burst its boiler. 

Touching at the various towns on the river's bank, to 
land passengers, delayed us for a few minutes ; but we 
arrived at Newcastle, thirty-five miles from Philadelphia^ 
in two hours and a half Stepping at that place from the 
yessel on to the railway, we entered the several horse-cars, 



70 

acGordins: to the numbered tickets we had received on 
board the steamer, without any trouble about the baggage, 
which had been placed in small cars previously to our 
leaving the vessel, and now followed us on common rail- 
way wagons. The road was but a temporarily built 
one, being constructed of slabs of wood with a flat iron 
rod nailed upon them, to withstand the friction of the car- 
riage wheels, the foundation being formed of logs of trees 
laid horizontally, and scarcely substantial enough for the 
locomotive engines which were to be introduced upon it 
in the course of the summer. The country through which 
we passed was very fiat and uninteresting, with scarcely 
any signs of population, and the soil poor and wet. In 
two hours we arrived at Frenchtown, containing two or 
three straggling houses on the banks of the Elk , where 
again entering a steam-boat, we proceeded down the river, 
which is so beset with shoals, that stakes and the tops of 
pine-trees were stuck upon them for the guidance of ves- 
sels. The country was still flat and devoid of beauty, un- 
til we entered the Chesapeake, and the noble Bay in- 
to which the Susquehanna pours its tributary water ; 
when we caught a passing glimpse of Harford, some 
miles up the latter ; and a low distant range of heights 
made their appearance, almost following the course of the 
Chesapeake. America may very fairly lay claim to hav- 
ing a more variable climate than England ; for I often saw 
the thermometer range 30 degrees in twenty-four hours ; 
and upon this day the sun was so excessively hot, and 
the glare upon the white-painted deck so painful to the 
eyes, as well as to the feet, that I was obliged to take 
shelter below. In Philadelphia, two days previously, 
every one sitting at the fire. 

When we quitted the Chesapeake, and entered the Pa- 
tapsco at North Point (where the British army landed, 
under General Ross, in 1814,) it was so broad that ob- 
jects on either bank could be but indistinctly seen. After 
running a few miles up the latter river, we got the first 
sight of Baltimore, situated on a series of heights at the 
head of a circular bay, with a range of low blue hills in 
rear of it, and presenting a more picturesque appearance 
than Philadelphia, being interspersed with many domes, 
towers, and lofty monuments. Numerous pretty country 



72 

residences, too, on the rising ground in the vicinity, add 
much to the beauty of the city. In front of it, and about 
three miles distant, is Fort M' Henry, on a promontory 
formedby the junction of another branch of the Patapsco. 
It was bombarded, during the late war, by the British 
fleet, who received a check there to their farther advance 
upon Baltimore, by the ship channel being choked up 
with sunken vessels. As the steamer passed, a small 
detachment of troops were at drill within the works, which 
are not in very good repair ; but their use is to be super- 
seded by an almost impregnable fortress (according to 
the description given me,) which is erecting upon the 
Rip Rap shoals, at the mouth of the Chesapeake, and at 
Fort Munro, on the mainland opposite, upon the construc- 
tion of which immense sums of money have been expend- 
ed. We arrived off the pier-head at three o'clock, hav- 
ing been nine hours on the journey from Philadelphia, 
ninety-five miles distant ; and showing a porter, at his 
request, "the location" of my carpet bag, I walked up to 
the City Hotel, considered the largest in the United States ; 
which, though containing nearly two hundred apartments, 
had not one single-bedded room vacant until the follow- 
ing day. Having bargained that I should be transferred 
to one on the morrow, and that my fellow-occupant for the 
night should be a peaceable man. I walked out to view 
the lions of the city; the very first being in the centre of 
a small square in front of the hotel ; namely a white mar- 
ble monument, sixty feet in height, erected to the memo- 
ry of those who fell in the defence of the city at the battle 
of North Point, and bombardment of Fort M'FIenry. A 
double scroll entwines the fluted column, with the names 
of those who fell inscribed upon it ; and in small square 
compartments at the base are relievos representing the 
death of General Ross, and the bombardment by the 
British fleet. Several strange nondescript animals — a 
kind of half-lion, half-eagle, occupy the angles of the pe- 
destal ; and on the summit of the monument a female 
figure, with a wreath elevated in her right hand, repre- 
sents (as I imagined) Fame crowning the deeds of the slain. 
The Americans point to the monuments as erected in cele- 
bration of a victory over the English, to whom thej will 



•yS A Subaltern's furlough. 

never allow a particle either of honour or glory; but their 
representatives, who fell back upon Baltimore so hastily 
from the battle of North Point, could tell them a far dif- 
ferent story. There is another fine monument erected 
upon the rising- ground, a little to the north of the city, to 
the memory of Washington, the only one for that purpose, 
I believe, in the northern States. The bas-reliefs and other 
decorations are not yet finished, for want of the necessary 
funds. The original intention was, that the summit should 
be raised 200 feet from the ground, but it only attained 
the height of 178, including the colossal statue of Washing- 
ton, 16i feet high. The whole exterior is of white mar- 
ble, and has already cost 200,000 dollars. Though the 
day was yet excessively hot, I determined to ascend the 
column; and being furnished with a lantern at a small 
house at the base, there being no loop-holes to admit 
light, I toiled with aching limps up the tedious 228 steps, 
and for some time admired the extensive and fine view 
of the Chesapeake, and surrounding country. 

Being Sinclair's benefit night, I attended the theatre 
to witness the performance of " Englishmen in India." 
There was but a thin audience, and they protracted the 
play in a most wearisome manner, by the frequent encores 
they demanded of every song. The news of the rejection 
of the English Reform Bill had been received two or three 
days in the city; and also a rumour that there was to be 
a creation of new peers in order to carry the measure. 
Advantage was taken of this circumstance by some wag 
in the play, bearing the unromantic name of Mr. Tape, 
who received a long and boisterous round of applause for 
his ready wit : " You must personate a Count," said 
Lady Scraggs; " Oh, aye," said the knight of the thimble; 
" one of the new batch of Peers for the Reform Bill, I 
suppose, as Shakespeare says, 

' It wants a thorough reform.' " 

Upon my return to the inn, I entered my apartment 
most cautiously, lest I should arouse the man of peace 
from his slumbers ; but it was an unneccessary precaution, 
for, although he had been in bed three hours, he had not 



A subaltern's furlough. 73 

closed his eyes. I told him it was a great .waste of time, 
and that he had better have attended the theatre, where 
he might have heard some excellent singing, upon which 
he informed me that he was a missionary from St. Kitt's 
in the West Indies, and was now upon his travels through 
the United States for the benefit of his health. He had 
landed only the preceding week at New- York, and gave 
me a most deplorable account of rough roads, and half 
dislocated bones which he had already met with in his 
journey. As 1 had every prospect of undergoing the 
same, I sympathized with him most sincerely ; and we 
passed the time away until near dawn of day, expatiating 
upon the pleasure of speedy but easy travelling, and com- 
paring the respective merits of the East and West Indies. 
The following day I visited the Catholic cathedral, a 
very gloomy, prison-like piece of architecture, and about 
which I had the bad taste to see nothing worthy cf ad- 
miration, excepting the altar, a present from France. 
The exterior of the building bore such marks of anti- 
quity, and of antique taste, that I imagined it must have 
been almost coeval with the first settlers ; but, upon 
inquiry, was much surprised to find that it had only been 
erected eighteen years. The lowness of the dome, in 
proportion to the rest of the cathedral, and the great want 
of spacious windows, give it a very heavy appearance. 
Its extreme length is 190 feet, by 177 in breadth, while 
the height to the summit of the cross is only 127 feet. 
There are several paintings in the interior, presented by 
Cardinal Fesch to the late Archbishop Marshall ; and one 
the Descent from the Cross by Paulin Guerin, presented 
by Louis XVIII., possessing considerably more merit 
than another presented by Charles X. of France, repre- 
senting some scene in the time of the Crusades, from the 
brush of an unknown artist. 

A Unitarian church, in something the same style of 
architecture, is within 200 yards of the cathedral; but the 
American churches fall very far short of that appearance 
of solemn grandeur which is so striking in the religious 
edifices of the Old World, where large Gothic windows 
with stone mullions and small diamond panes of giass, 
VOL. L — o. 



^4 A subaltern's furlough. 

have not yet given place to two stories of smart window* 
sashes, with green Venetian shutters. There is no solidity 
about an American church, which is generally built of 
wood or red brick, in the stj^le of English Dissenters' meet- 
ing-houses ; and surmounted by a light, highly ornament- 
ed spire of the former material, sometimes covered with 
glittering sheet tin. The chancel fronts any point of the 
compass indiiferently ; the organ occupies the eastern, and 
the altar under the pulpit the western end of the churchy 
as convenience suits ; our scrupulous English attention 
to their particular situation being viewed as a remnant 
of the superstitious ages. 

The Museum, established by a brother of Peale of 
Philadelphia, contains but a paltry collection of paintings, 
with only a moderate one of natural curiosities, which are 
not arranged with half that taste which distinguishes the 
one in that city. 

While walking through the Arcade, a fine building of 
two stories, both of which are well occupied by shops, 
some men were employed in pulling down and cleaning 
the stove-pipes. One of them went out with a large 
portion of the flue over his shoulder; following him to the 
entrance into the street, I stood there looking at a lofty 
shot tower opposite, and had scarcely determined which 
road I should next take, when another man as black as 
Erebus, or the cyclops of old, came up with a fathom of 
the stove-pipe over his shoulder ; and after gazing about 
for a moment or tw^o, as if at a loss for something, ad- 
dressed me (in making the necessary turn of his body to 
get a full view of me, a cloud of soot shot from his bur- 
then, nearly upsetting both me and my gravity,) with, 
"Which way did that gentleman go, sir?" I bowed 
most politely, and, giving him the required information, 
we parted with a mutual " good morning, sir." 

The Merchants' Hall, built by private subscription, has 
been a great failure with regard to the value of the stock. 
It is a noble building and of grand dimensions ; the front 
being 255 feet by a depth of 140, having four stories, 
including the ground-floor. The great hall, where the 
merchants daily assemble, is 86 by 53 feet, and lighted 
from the dome, whose summit is 90 feet from the floor. 



FURLOUGH. 



The sides of the hall are supported by columns of marble ; 
each being a single block. An excellent news-room, cus- 
tom-house, and other public offices, adjoin. It was only 
built ten years since, at an expence of 200,000 dollars ; but 
the original subscribers have sunk most of their money, 
from that part of the building which was constructed for 
letting out to shopkeepers and lawyers being unoccu- 
pied. 

The city contains upwards of 70,000 inhabitants, and 
possesses considerable trade, particularly in flour and 
cotton : every stream in their vicinity being studded with, 
mills. It is not quite so regularly built, being upon very 
abrupt ground, as Philadelphia; but contains many excel- 
lent streets, and fine market-houses. Ample proofs, too, 
are given of its prosperity on the shores of the harbour, 
which resound with theclanof of workmen's hammers em- 
ployed in the construction of numerous ships and steam- 
vessels. But I saw nothing more remarkable than the 
extreme beauty of the females : the appearance of the 
gentlemen did not strike me as any thing very extraor- 
dinary, rather the contrary ; for, if I were to give my can- 
did opinion, I should say they were like the merchants' 
exchange stock — rather below par ; but it is possible they 
might suffer some little from contrast to their fair towns- 
women. I do not remember, in any part of the globe, 
seeing amongst the females so much loveliness and beauty, 
as in Baltimore. It is true, they are rather more dressy 
than in other towns in the States ; but they have good 
figures to set off; and I should strongly recommend some 
of the young men from other parts of the Union to at- 
tempt transplanting a few of them ; for in my after-travels 
I visited many places which, I am sure, stood much in 
need of them. I think, however, the American women 
generally, when young, though not possessing the English 
freshness of colour, are exceedingly handsome : but (" the 
fairest still the fleetest," as the song is,) age, or rather the 
marks of old age, creep upon them sooner than on the 
natives of more temperate climes. 

A large varnished and painted board, with the following 
strange notice upon it, in gilt or yellow painted letters, 



76 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 

was fixed up against the wall opposite the window of my 
room, in a most conspicuous part of the hotel : — 

" Constantly on hand for the 

accommodation of travellers, 

on the most reasonable terms, 

fine linen shirts, cravats, 

collars, show bosoms, silk stockings, 

gloves, suspenders, 

silk and linen pocket handkerchiefs, 

razor strops, patent Venus pomatum 

for dyeing the hair and whiskers 

without injury to the skin. 

Razors set in order. 

Best chewing tobacco." 

But this medley of pomatum and tobacco did not asto- 
nish me half so much as the following strange address in 
the news-room, to the visitors of the largest hotel in the 
United States : — "Five dollars reward for the discovery 
of the viUian ivJio cuts or tears the newspapers ! P^ 

The third day after my arrival at Baltimore, I rode out 
to view the scenes of action in the vicinity during the last 
war : and, in twenty minutes, gained the heights to the 
eastward, which are yet scarred and furrowed by the long 
chain of entrenchments and redoubts thrown up by the 
American army ; and before which, when manned by 
20,000 troops, the British force of 5000 halted on the 
1 3th of September; and, finally retired to the shipping 
without attempting a reduction of the works. I know not 
what were the general sentiments of the American army 
collected for the defence of Baltimore ; but a gentleman 
who served in it assured me that it was his firm opinion if 
an attack had been resolutely commenced, their troops 
would have fled as on the preceding day. There can be no 
doubt that Baltimore owed its safety to the artificial bars 
which had been formed in front of Fort M'Henry, and not 
to any gallantry of its militia. For it is evident that, 
could the shipping have gained the right flank of their 
army, not only would their entrenchments have been ex- 
posed to a raking fire, but a force would have been landed 
within them. Proceeding onwards for several miles 
through a thickly-^vooded country, with only small patch- 



A subaltern's furlough. 77 

es of cleared ground, and a wooden shanty at intervals, I 
crossed the farm where the hard-contested action of the 
12th took place, from which the Americans retreated in 
great disorder to their entrenchments before the city. In 
a few minutes, I arrived at a small monument erected to 
the memory of the apprentice by whose hand General Ross 
fell; who, rather unnecessarily, but courageously, exposed 
himself in a petty skirmish with a scouting party of the 
enemy's riflemen. It is situated in rather a romantic spot, 
at an opening of the forest by the road-side, upon the 
place where the British general fell. There is an in- 
scription upon two faces of it, stating that it was erected 
by the first mechanic volunteers to the memory of 

" Aquilla Randall, aged twenty-four years, who died in bravely 
defending his country and his home." 

On a third side, 

" In the skirmish which occurred 

at this spot 

between the advanced party 

under Major Richard K. Heath, 

of the 5th regiment M.M., 

and the front of the Britisli column, 

Major General Ross, 
the Commander of the British forces, 
received his mortal wound."' 

And on the fourth, 

" How beautiful is death 
when earned by 
Virtue .'" 

If the rifleman, as generally stated by even the Ame 
ricans themselves, fired deliberately from behind a tree, 
where he had posted himself to await the general's so 
near approach, that there was no possibility of his aim 
failing, I think the latter pait of the inscription might as 
well have been dispensed with; for I cannot see what 
honour should accrue, or praise be awarded, to any man 
for a deed which was but a shade better than cold-blooded 
assassination. 

6* 



FURLOUGH. 

I left Baltimore in the afternoon of the 15th of June, 
and travelled for the first time, in an American coach, 
which I found to be a very clumsy piece of mechanism, 
and little calculated for the ease or comfort of passengers. 
This is, in a great measure, a necessary consequence of 
the bad state of the roads, vi^hich are as yet quite un- 
formed, and more uneven than the bye-lanes in England. 
The coachman (or " driver," for he would feel quite 
offended if you hurt his dignity so much as to address 
him by any other title, in the United States,) very unlike 
one of the English fraternity of the whip, was dressed in 
a pair of light-coloured trowsers, with shoes and stock- 
ings, without coat or waistcoat, but (being a melting sum- 
mer's day) in his shirt sleeves, and a white strav/ hat 
turned up behind, as I have before described. He drove 
most furiously over every thing, rough and smooth alike. 
Railways, ravines, and water-courses, which cut up the 
road in countless numbers, were no impediments ; he 
dashed on at a surprising rate, over rough stones and 
tottering bridges that would have cracked every spring 
in an English carriage, and caused its coachman to de- 
liberate some time before he even ventured over them at 
a foot pace. An American driver allows his horses to 
take their own time in ascending a hill, so that they only 
move some little ; but, be it ever so steep, not a passenger 
for a moment, dreams of relieving them of his weight, 
by walking. To make up for this loss of time, he de- 
scends the hills (to use his own expression) " with all 
steam on," which usually terminates in a full gallop at 
the bottom, and not unfrequently in an upset. He takes 
the right of every carriage he meets, contrary to the old 
English stanza of, 

^* The rule of the road is a paradox quite, 
As the carriages jog it along : 
If you go to the left, you are sure to go right, 
But, if you go right, you go wrong." 

There is one recommendation, however, to the " drivers." 
that they expect no fees from their passengers. Having 
some consideration for the lives and limbs of travellers, 



A subaltern's furlough. T9 

they have no seats upon the roof of their coaches, but the 
body is so capacious as to afford ample room for three 
seats, or nine people ; the centre seat moving on a hinge 
in the middle, so as to be pushed back when the door is 
opened. The body is slung upon two immensely thick 
leathern springs, running under it from the fore to the 
after axle-trees ; but they give the coach so much play, 
that, in crossing a water-course, or any slight hollow, it 
pitches down so heavily, that the driver's footboard strikes 
the wheel-horses on the back ; on which occasion a cor- 
responding movement is made by the passengers within. 
There were but two besides myself, and they had taken 
possession of their places before I entered ; so I had only 
the choice of either riding with my back to the horses, or 
to them ; and, wishing to take advantage of their society, 
I preferred the former. But, although accustomed to the 
rolling of a ship, I found it utterly impossible to retain 
possession of my seat ; every pitch of the coach sent me 
with force on the centre one, and sometimes nearly over 
it into my fellow-travellers' laps, being checked in my 
course only by the broad leathern belt which crosses the 
centre of the vehicle for the passengers in that part to 
lean their backs against. Nor was it until after much 
manoeuvring that I managed to secure myself After I 
had travelled a few hundred miles, I became more accus- 
tomed to the motion, and discovered that the heavier a 
coach was laden the easier it went, and that to be wedged 
in between two fat old ladies, or gentlemen, was a great 
desideratum in a long and rough journey. 

The road passed through a dull, uncultivated country, 
with not even a straggling village for upwards of twenty 
miles; and the few houses we passed were mostly mise- 
rable-looking log-huts, inhabited by negroes, whose chief 
occupation appeared to consist in threading with a plough 
between the stumps of trees, to turn up the soil amongst 
the rows of Indian corn. The coach turned ofTthe road 
about fifteen miles from Baltimore, and wound its way 
throuofh the mazes of the forest. Lookino- out to ascertain 
the cause of such a detour, I saw the branch of a tree laid 
across the road, and, a few yards farther, a broken dowq 



80 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 

wooden bridge, with a solitary black at work repairing it. 
At the village of Rossburgh the scenery became more 
varied, hill and dale intervened, and several fine farms 
began to show themselves. On the left of the road, near 
Bladensburgli, was an English-looking mansion, whh 
lodges at the entrance gale, the grounds laid out with 
irood taste, and every thing, even to the very rail fences 
of the fields, betokening an opulent and good practical 
farmer. I was informed it was the property of Mr. Cal- 
vert, a descendent of the Lord Bahimore, who received a 
grant from Charles I., in 1632, of a tract of country on 
the bay of the Chesapeake, which he named Maryland, in 
honour of Henrietta Maria, and of which state Baltimore 
is now the capital. His brother, Leonard Calvert, the 
following year, being appointed Governor of the province, 
left England with about 200 planters, and settled on the 
northern bank of the Potomac. This farm comprises near- 
ly 2000 acres, and is in a higher state of cultivation than 
any I saw. Descending the hill, we entered the small 
village of Bladensburgh, which does not contain more 
than two brick, and but few wooden houses, which are 
scattered and almost concealed amongst the trees, with 
the exception of one small street, through which the 
main road passes, ind at the end of which it crosses the 
eastern branch of the Potomac by a wooden bridge. 
Here was fought the action which, in 1814, decided the 
fate of the capital of the United States. The road from 
Nottingham, by which the British army under General 
Ross advanced, joins the Baltimore road at the village: 
by some strange error, theAmerican commander neglected 
to destroy the bridge, or even to dispute vigorously the 
passage of the Britis a troo; 3 across it; but, after some 
slight skirmishing, and the discharge of two field pieces, 
he awaited thei; formation and attack upon the rising 
ground and farm-house on the opposite side of the river. 
Hence his forces fled with the greatest precipitation ; the 
sailors alone, under Commodore Barney, attempting, by 
a spirited resistance, to retrieve the errors of the day. 
This action is a subject of jest among the Americans 
themselves, who facetiously call it the Bladensburgh races ; 



A subaltern's furlough. 81 

and a Washington poet has lately celebrated it in the 
following terms : 

THE BATTLE GROUND. 

" And here two thousand fought, three hundred fell, 
And fifteen thousand fled ; of these remain 
The three where Barney laid them, — they sleep well. 
Of the fifteen, part live to run again ; 
And part have died of fevers on the brain, 
Potions and pills — fell agents — but the worst, 
As Sewell* in his pamphlet proves, is thirst. 



And General Winder, I believe, is dead, 

And General ( ) retired to learned ease, 

Posting a ledger. He has exchanged the bed 

Of fame for one of feathers, and the fees 

Of war for those of trade ; and, where the trees 

Shook at his voice, all 's still, as ere began 

The fight J for, when it did, they cheer'd and — ran. 

All, save old Handspike and his crew — they stood 
Drawn up, one coolly buttoning his breeches. 
Another his cheek helping to a quid 
Of purser's pigtail. No long windy speeches — 
For valour, like a bishop, seldom preaches — 
They stood like men prepared to do their duty, 
And fell, as they had done it — red and smutty. 

Peace to them ! men I still have found 
Though sadly looked on by us land-bred people, 
High-soul'd, warm-hearted — true, it must be owned, 
They've no great predilection for a steeple, 
And too much for a bottle. — But the ground 
Strongest in tares is so in wheat ; the sod 
May flower as here, whose very earth is blood." 

I believe it is fully acknowledged, in every English 
account of the action, that no troops could have behaved 
worse than the American soldiers, and none more bravely 
than the sailors, who worked their guns with most asto- 
nishing precision, as is testified by the British having 
upwards of 500 men killed and wounde-^ ; while the Ame- 
rican loss did not much exceed half that number. Since 

* Discourse on Intemperance. 



gS A subaltern's furlough. 

that time, their naval service has experienced a severe loss 
in the person of Commodore Decatur, who was killed in 
a duel on the high ground near the head of the position 
their army occupied upon that day. 

A violent thunder-storm burst upon us soon after leav- 
ing Bladensburgh, from which we were ill defended by 
the painted canvas curtains of our vehicle. Wet and 
weary, we arrived, at eight o'clock in the evening, at the 
door of Gadsby's hotel, in Washington. 



A SUBALTERN S rURLOUGH. 83 



CHAPTER VI, 

There they shall found 
THeir government, and their great senate choose. 

^Vllerc commonwealth men, starting at the shade 
"Which in their own wild fancy had been made, 
Of tyrants dream'd who wore a thorny crown, 
And with state bloodhounds hunted Freedom down. 

To rear this plant of Union, till at length, 
Rooted by time and fostered into strength, 
Shooting aloft all danger it defies. 
And proudly lifts its branches to the skies. 

Churcbul. 

On the following day (Sunday) I felt so sore and 
shaken with my rough journey, and the thermometer 
stood so high (upwards of ninety in the shade,) that I 
kept within doors until evening, when I strolled down the 
broad Pennsylvania Avenue for an hour before sunset ; 
but immediately after breakfast, the next morning, I set 
off to feast my eyes and ears upon the grand object of 
my expedition from Philadelphia : to wit, the Capitol, and 
C'Ongress in full convention. I had rather hurried my 
journey, lest the House should adjourn ; and considered 
myself fortunate in finding, upon my arrival, that the 
tariff and bank bills were before it, and in all human 
probability would fulty occupy it for the next six w^eeks. 

A few hundred paces from the hotel, up the Pennsyl- 
vania A\-enue, I crossed a small muddy creek, classically 
denominated the Tiber, and soon after gained the large 
iron gates at the entrance of the area within which the 
Capitol is situated. It is upon a lofty eminence, over- 
looking the plain upon which the city is built ; and several 
broad flights of steps lead to the principal entrance. The 
first stone was laid by Washington, during his adminis- 
tration, in September, 1793 ; but it was not finished to its 
present state until some time after the conclusion of hosti- 
lities in 1815, previously to which the v^ings only were 
built of substantial materials, the intermediate space be- 



84 A subaltern's furlough. 

tween them, now occupied by the Rotunda, being formed 
of wood. It was consumed in the conflagration of the 
public buildings which ensued on the entrance of the 
British into the city, on the evening of the 24th of August, 
1814. It is situated nearly in the centre of the area, 
which' contains 22| acres of ground, and is surrounded 
by a low wall and strong iron balustrade, a small shrub- 
bery of low trees being planted within the railing. The 
western front, towards the city, is tastefully laid out in 
grass terraces and gravel walks ; while on the eastern a 
garden has been fenced off within an iron railing, to 
which however every one has free access. The eastern 
front of the building stands upon higher ground than the 
western ; and, to remedy this defect in the appearance, 
an earthen terrace was formed at some distance (probably 
20 feet) from the basement story on the latter side, which, 
in addition to answering the primary object, affords, by 
being underbuilt, excellent cellars for fuel. The en- 
trance, then, is fromi this terrace into the Rotunda, which 
is on the second story, and paved with stone, receiving 
light from the dome, 96 feet above the floor. Its diameter 
is also the same ; and the echo of footsteps along the 
pavement, or the voices of people conversing, almost 
equals that in the whispering gallery of St. Paul's. The 
western side of it is ornamented with four large oil- 
paintings, by Colonel Trumbull, an officer of the Ame- 
rican army, and aid-de-camp to Washington during the 
revolutionary war. Retiring from the service in disgust 
at the irregular promotion of some officers over his head, 
he cultivated his natural talent for drawing, by studying 
under his countryman, West, and others of the most 
eminent artists in Europe. The paintings are placed in 
niches about ten inches deep in the wall, and are from 20 
to 21 feet in length, and about 13 in height. They are 
all historical subjects, taken from the most important 
events of the era connected with the Revolution ; repre- 
senting the Declaration of Independence in the State 
House, Philadelphia, 4th July, 1776; Surrender of Bur- 
goyne, at Saratoga, 17th October, 1777; that of Corn- 
wallis, at Yorktown, 19th October, 1781 ; and Washing- 
ton's Resignation of his Commission into the hands of 



FURL-0U<5H. 85 

dottgress, at Annapolis, 23d. December, 1783. All have 
considerable merit, and their value is enhanced by most 
of the figures represented on the canvass being from por- 
traits taken for the express purpose by Colonel Trum- 
bull. But, in the last-mentioned one, the two stiff lines 
of French and American troops, stationed at attention, 
and looking at each other from opposite ends of the 
painting, with the British army and General O'Hara at 
their head, marching up the centre in lengthened array, 
appear as formal and old-fashioned as the straight rows 
of Lombardy poplars in the Pennsylvania Avenue. The 
four niches on the opposite side of the Rotunda are 
vacant ; and, being merely plastered over, look shabby 
and bare, contrasted with the richly gilt frames which 
surround them. Captain Hall says that, when he was in 
the States, the subject of filling them with suitable paint- 
ings was brought before Congress, but that they came 
to no decision respecting them ; nor have they made any 
farther progress as yet. Various reasons were assigned, 
to me for the neglect of what any one would imagine was 
but a very simple undertaking, and required little or no 
discussion. A young artist proposed to fill up one of the 
vacant niches gratuitously, thinking the name he should 
earn, and the patronage which would ensue in conse- 
quence of such an act, ample remuneration : but the 
House declined accepting his offer, as one party (the 
Battle of New-Orleans being the subject proposed) would 
never consent to any thing which might tend to add lustre 
to the deeds of General Jackson ; and another stated that 
though the artist might paint one gratuitousl}'-, yet he 
would expect, and Congress would almost be bound to 
give him an order to fill up the remaining three niches, 
that too much money had already been lavished upon 
Colonel Trumbull by the present generation, and that pos- 
terity might fill the others. There are two entrances into 
the Rotunda from the area without, and two others from 
the Senate House in the northern wing, and from the 
House of Representatives in the southern wing. Over 
each of them is a large historical piece of sculpture ; two 
are from the chisel of Enrico Causici, of Nerona, who 
studied under Canova ; the one representing a combat 

TOL. I. — H. 



86 A sabaltern's furlough. 

between Daniel Boon, an early settler in the west, and an 
Indian, in 1 773 ; the other represents the landing of the 
Puritan settlers at Plymouth, in 1620. A third, by A. Ca- 
pellano, also a pupil of Canova's, is the narrow escape of 
Captain Smith from death (when captured by the Indians 
in 1606,) through the intercession of Pocahontas, the 
king's daughter, who, in 1609, prevented the entire de- 
struction of the colony at Jamestown, by informing the 
settlers of her father's design of cutting them off She 
was subsequently married to Mr. Rolfe, an English gen- 
tleman, with whom she visited his native country. The 
fourth piece of sculpture is by R. Gevelot, representing 
the treaty between Penn and the Indians in 1682. On 
each side of those over the grand entrances are the 
sculptured heads of Raleigh, Columbus, Cabot, and La 
Sale. The House of Representatives, connected with the 
Rotunda by a passage, is of a semi-circular form ; its 
greatest length being 95 feet, with a painted roof and 
dome 60 feet in height, supported by about 24 columns 
of highly-polished Potomac marble, or pudding stone, 
with capitals of white Italian marble, which, I thought 
made a contrast very unpleasiogto the eye, reminding one 
(as a gentleman near me remarked) of a negro Avith a 
white turban upon his head. A very large and handsome 
chandelier is suspended from the centre of the dome, in 
which there is also a skylight, and small lamps are at- 
tached to each column ; so that the House is most bril- 
liantly illuminated at night, when the debates continue 
beyond day-light,which is seldom the case. The speaker's 
chair is in the centre of the base of the semi-circle, and 
elevated under a canopy of drapery nine steps above the 
floor of the house ; with clerks' desks immediately under, 
and the newspaper reporters in a low gallery on each side> 
and in rear of the speaker. The members sit fronting the 
speaker in amphitheatrical rows, and each is furnished 
with a chair, desk, writing materials, and last, though not 
least, a brass spittoon. In rear of them, and between the 
marble columns, are those persons who, though not mem- 
bers, are yet entitled to a seat upon the floor of the house. 
The strangers' gallery, of marble, with three rows of 
cushioned seats and a carpeted floor, is raised about 12 or 



k SUBALTERN^S FURLOUGH. 87 

14 feet above the body of the house, and occupies the space 
between the columns and the wall, the full extent of the 
semicircle. Over the speaker's chair is a large statue of 
Liberty, and another (what it was intended to represent I 
was at a loss to discover for several days) is opposite to 
it over the entrance door. A full-length portrait of La- 
fayette, with the American standard and a copy of the 
Declaration of Independence, decorates one side of the 
House ; and it is intended to place one of Washington on 
that opposite. About 150 members were present when 
1 entered, and the coup d^aii Avas remarkably imposing 
and magnificent. I had not formed the slightest conception 
that I bhould have witnessed any thing so grand, and it 
struck me as exceeding in splendour any thing I had ever 
seen. The subject before the House was either trifling or 
very uninteresting, to judge from the whispering and talk- 
ing" of some members, and the incessant rustlina;' of letters, 
books, and newspapers, kept up by others. It was in vain 
that I strained my powers of hearing to the uttermost ; 
I could not arrive at the pith of a single speech. The 
building is evidently ill calculated for sound, a speaker's 
voice being entirely lost in the vast expanse of dome. 
An attempt was made to rectify this fault, by hanging 
drapery between the marble columns, but it has been of 
very little avail in confining the sound; and the only pro- 
ject which is likely to answer would be by having an arti- 
ficial roof, or a glass dome, which would not detract much 
from the appearance, suspended a few feet above the level 
of the strangers' gallery. 

I was sitting in the gallery one day, during a discussion 
as to whether the house should make a grant for defray- 
ing the expense of printing the debates, and, not think- 
ing it particularly interesting, opened my nUe-book, and 
commenced a sketch of the scene before me. ^ had not 
been long thus occupied, when a man, placing himself be- 
side me, said, " Can you it take down as fast as they 
speak!" "Much faster," said I ; "I write short-hand 
exceedingly well." I thought him blessed with a very 
dull genius, or that my sketch must be a very wretched 
one ; but nothing daunted by his remark, proceeded with 
^Hy pencil as far as sketching in the figure which had 



88 A SUFALTERN^'s FURLOUGH. 

puzzled me so exceedingly before, from my not being 
able to gain a front view of it to see what it represented ^ 
when, by one of those singular pieces of good luck which 
sometimes occur to travellers, the mystery was at once 
unravelled. Mr. Adams (the late president, who had re- 
sumed his seat in the House of Representatives) rising to 
address the speaker, I took down his speech almost ver- 
batim ; and as he had a clear voice, and the House was 
called thrice to order, I ascertained that it was to the 
following effdct : — " He wished that the resolution now 
before the House might pass ; for he considered it the 
only parliamentary, or rather; he should say, congres- 
sional history of the Union ; for, in time of profound 
peace, the record of the proceedings of the two Houses of 
Congress is almost in fact the history of the nation. In 
Great Britain, a recent publication of the parliamentary 
proceedings formed a work occupying nearly 200 vol- 
umes, each as large as those of the work in question: in 
Great Britain, whose people sometimes were accused of 
not feeling the same powerful interest in the concerns of 
their government which the Americans did, so much inte- 
rest was excited by this publication, that it sustained itself 
Surely, if there was any thing in which the example of 
England should have weight with them, and if there was 
any thing in the British House of Parliament worthy of 
imitation, it was the spirit with which they appropriated 
money for the purpose of printing the debates. He sin- 
cerely hoped gentlemen Avould ha \^e some regard for their 
posterity, and furnish the means which should enable 
them to learn what their forefathers had "said and done. 
He wished to ask the Speaker ivhat was the meaning of 
that beautiful marble statue over the clock at the en. 
trance of the House. — Why, it was the 3Iuse of History 
in her car, looking down upon the members of the 
House, and reminding them that, as the hour passed, she 
wasin the attitude of recording ivhatever they said and did 
upon the floor — an admonition well worthy of being re- 
membered. The reporters, at the sides and in rear of the 
Speaker's chair, were the scribes of that Muse of Histo- 
ry j and the publication now in question before the House 
was the real, he might even say the living, record of that 



A subaltern's furlough. 89 

historic muse ; and he concluded by trusting that the 
same spirit which incited them to make the grant for 
erecting that statue would now urge them to pass the one 
before the House." 

I afterwards heard that the statue was designed by an 
Italian sculptor, who died since in Washington : the Muse 
of History is represented with a book and pencil in the 
attitude of writing, and standing in a winged car (the 
clock forming a wheel) which passes over the surface 
of the globe. 

The Senate Flouse is of the same shape as that of the 
Representatives, but smaller; being only 74 feet in length 
by 42 in height. Upon entering the light strangers"' 
gallery, which, supported by iron pillars, runs round the 
circular part of it, the following notice posted on the door 
met my eye and excited a smile ; 

" Gentlemen will be pleased not to place their feet on the board 

in front of the gallery, as the dirt from them falls upon Senators^ 
heads." 

The air and demeanour of the senators struck me as 
rather more aristocratical than that of the members of 
the other house. During the time the houses are ac- 
tually sitting, a flag flies upon the summit of the dome 
over each wing ; and, if either adjourns, that flag only 
is struck. 

Adjoining the Rotunda on the western front of the 
Capitol is the Congress Library — a room of about 90 by 
35 feet, and calculated to contain upwards of 20,000 
volumes. At present it has about 13,000, which have 
been collected since 1814, when the small library of 3000 
was destroyed. 

pndet hnec opprobria nobis, 



Et dici poLu.sse, et non potuisse refelii !" 

There are two busts of eminent Americans by Persicaand 
an old portrait of Columbus in it. From the outer balcony 
there is a fine piospect of the broad Potomac, and the 
rising ground with Arlington House (the property of Mr. 

H* 



90 A subaltern's furlough. 

Custis, related to the Washington family) on the oppo- 
site bank ; the mall, the navy-yard, and the towns of Alex- 
andria and Georgetown in the distance. The basenxent 
story is occupied by various courts, offices, and bar-rooms. 
The total cost of the building was 2,598,500 dollars 
(540,000/.,) and it covers one acre and a half of ground, 
and 1820 square feet ; the length of the front being 350, 
the depth of the wings 121, and the height to the top of 
the centre dome 120 feet. The exterior, although of 
white freestone, is painted white; which tasteless pro- 
ceeding is explained by the following extract from the 
Travellers' Guide : " Captain Hall, in his Travels, speak- 
ing of the Capitol, says, ' By some strange perversity of 
taste, however, for which I never could learn to w^hom 
the public were indebted, this fine building has been 
covered with a coating of paint.' He should have been 
told that the painting was to hide the smoke occasioned 
by the conflagration which succeeded the capture of the 
city by the British troops in 1814." The Editor should 
have added that British troops would never have been 
guilty of such excesses, and that this act of severity on 
their part would not have happened, if the American 
army which invaded Canada under General Harrison, in 
1812, had not wantonly destroyed by fire the Moravian 
village on the 20lh of October ; and if General M'Clure 
had not, at the end of the following year, burnt the whole 
town of Newark, sparing no private property, under the 
pretext of securing the American frontier. The British, 
on the contrary, respected private property, and destroyed 
only public buildings, in retaliation for this gross breach 
of the laws of civilized warfare. Yet the circumstance 
alone cf the British flag of trnce having been fired upon 
as it entered Washino-ton, and the General's horse killed, 
was sufficient to justify almost any steps, in addition to 
putting to death every one in the house whence the shot 
proceeded, as also razing the building to the ground. 

At the summit of the steps on the western side is a fine 
monument erected to the memory of the officers who fell 
at Tripoli in 1804. There are several allegorical figures 



A Subaltern's furlough. 91 

round the column, which are described in part of the in- 
scription on the pedestal : — 

" The love of glory inspired them — Fame has crowned their 
deeds — History records the event — The children of Columbia 
admire — and Commerce laments their fall." 

It Stood until very lately, in the navy yard, because (as 
was said) Congress would not give it so conspicuous a 
situation at the Capitol au the naval officers expected. I 
was glad to see that they had shown the good taste,, 
at the time of its removal, to efface the inscription of 
"Mutilated by the British in 1814," which had occupied a 
prominent place upon it for so many years. The mutila- 
tions, in the first place, were very slight, the head of a 
figure and a few letters of the inscription being broken off; 
whereas, had the British troops been bent upon destroy- 
ing the whole monument, a few blows from the butt-end 
of a musket would have shattered the greater part of it to 
pieces immediately. The little injury which it sustained 
arose, no doubt, from the same spirit of mischief which 
has defaced so many of the statues in Westminster Abbey 
and the public edifices in England. It must have escaped 
the notice of the illiberal authors of the inscription that, 
so long as it remained, it was but a memento that their 
capital had once been in the possession of foreign troops ; 
whether this, or the knowledge that it was a gross libel 
upon the British nation, prompted the withdrawal of it, 
I know not. 

During my stay at Washington I frequently attended 
the debates, and had to pass many a tedious hour in at- 
tempting to follow the rhapsodies of some ambitious young 
lawyer, who had got possession of the floor, and made a 
speech of almost intei-minable leno-th, wearying out the 
patience of every member in the House. He would pro- 
bably afterwards send it to the press, and distribute it in 
pamphlets for the edification of his constituents. On my 
expressing surprise that such a proser was not forthwith 
coughed down, some one near me said, "Every one is at 
liberty here to speak as much as he pleases. Since the 
meeting of the first Provincial Congress, up to the pre- 



^2 A subaltern's furlough. 

sent period, no session had been so stormy as this one ; 
nor had such actsof personal violence arising from debates 
been committed upon the members, one of whom had been 
caned in the public streets, and another shot at with a 
pistol as he was descending the Capitol steps. A good 
hearty cough, the cry of " order," or shuffling with the 
feet upon the floor of the House, would have put down 
the unruly speaker and prevented both occurrences. The 
public funeral of Mr. Johnson, a member from Virginia, 
who was unfortunately drowned in the Potomac b}^ slip- 
ping off the pier, at Alexandria, in a dark and stormy 
night, took place a few days after my arrival, in the burial 
ground near the Capitol : the president and members of 
both houses attending, and wearing crape round the left 
arm for thirty days. 

When the city w^as first planned, it was supposed that 
it would have been built upon the rising ground, which is 
a continuation cf the Capitol hill, as being a healthier and 
finer situation than the swampy flat between it and the 
Potomac. Mr. Law% an English gentleman speculating 
upon such a result, erected a square of houses to the south 
of the Capitol, and some few were rented in the first in- 
stance ; but the tide of population turned in a difierent 
direction, and settling in the low ground along the Penn- 
sylvania Avenue, betvveen the president's house and the 
Capitol, Mr. Law's houses were soon abandoned, and be- 
came a heap of ruins. He first settled in the States thirty 
years since ; and, marrying a niece of Washington's, was 
quite an enthusiast, and lost a large fortune in promoting- 
the growth of the city. 

Washington certainly exhibited fewer symptoms of pros- 
perity than any town I visited in the Union. There was 
none of that bustle which is always attendant upon a 
thriving place ; and the long straight streets, with a few 
idlers strolling about in them, betokened a place fast fall- 
ing to decay. At the present rate of increase in buildings, 
fifteen centuries will scarcely suffice to fill up the original 
plan, which w^as on a great and magnificent scale ; but 
the situation, in a m.ercantile point of view, is decidedly 
bad; the river is but just navigable for vessels of moderate 
burthen up to the city, 300 miles distant from the sea : 



A subaltern's furlough. 93 

and Baltimore, so close in the vicinity of the city, and of 
much easier access, engrosses all the trade of the sur- 
rounding country. The present population of Washings 
ton, including men of colour, is estimated at 20,000^ 
though I should not have judged it at more than two- 
thirds of that number. The ground which is cleared 
from forest, and upon which the plan of the city was 
traced out as follows, is 14 miles in circumference. There 
were to have been five broad streets from 120 to 160 feet 
in width, and from 3^ to 5 miles in length, called Ave- 
nues. 

" So called, as being void of trees, 
Like Lucus from no light." 

and named after different states diverging from the Capi- 
tol, which is near the centre of the intended city; several 
more, named in the same manner, were to branch off 
from the president's house, li mile north w^est, and from 
an open space 1 mile east of the Capitol, as other centres. 
These avenues generally run from N. E. to S. W., and 
from S. E. to N. W., and are intersected by streets run- 
ning direct to the cardinal points ; those north and south 
being numbered from 1 to 30, and those east and v^'esi 
according to the letters of the alphabet ; but, as the num- 
bers commence from each front of the Capitol, it is neces>- 
sary they should be defined by their bearings per com- 
pass from it: thus, A street north ; A street south: 29 
street east, 29 west. Nearly all the present buildings 
are along the Pennsylvania Avenue, in which the presi- 
dent's house is situated, and which is the only one in which 
any trees are planted. The district of Columbia, in w^hich 
tlie city is situated, is a ten-mile square, under the imme- 
diate direction of Congress, having been ceded to the 
United States in 1790, by Maryland and Virginia, and 
the site of the city fixed upon a peninsula, foimed by two 
branches of the Potomac. In 1784, an ordinance was 
passed by Congress, appointing commissioners to pur- 
chase the land on the Delaw^are, in the neighbourhood of 
the Falls, for the purpose of erecting public buildings 
for the reception of Congress, and the officers of govern- 



M A subaltern's furlough. 

ment ; but the southern states had sufficient interest to 
prevent this appropriation of funds, which required the 
assent of nine states ; and so many conflicting interests 
were brought into operation, whenever the subject was 
discussed by Congress, that no motion designating a more 
central place could succeed. New-York"had been ear- 
nestly supported; but at length those in favour of Phila- 
delphia and the Potomac entered into agreement, by which 
it was stipulated that Congress should hold its sessions 
in that city for ten years, during which period buildings 
should be erected on the Potomac, to which the govern- 
ment should removes! the expiration of the term. Thus 
was a small majority created, by the representatives of 
Pennsylvania and Delaware having united with those who 
were favourable to the Potomac ; a bill which was brought 
before the House in conformity with their arrangement, 
was passed; and Washington, during his administration 
as president, fixed on the place which should become 
the capital of the United States. From its situation no 
one would ever imagine it to be a heahhy place; owing 
to the great exhalations from the low ground during the 
excessive heat of summer: yet it appears, from Elliott's 
history of the ten-mile square, that " the average number 
of deaths in a year, is as 1 to 53; while in Europe it is 
as 1 in 28, and in large cities 1 in 23. From the same 
returns, bilious fevers and consumptions caused one-fifth 
of the mortality. A friend of mine, speaking to a shop- 
keeper in the city one day, said, " You must be very dull 
here when Congress has adjourned?" " Oh, no!" ans- 
wered he, "Not so dull either; we have plenty of fever 
and ague to keep us stirring." But after letting off' this 
little flash of American wit, he acknowledged that there 
was but little business until winter, when the city was all 
life again. An attempt is now making to counteract the 
bad effects of the marshy ground, by excavating a broad 
canal up the course of the Tiber creek, from its junction 
with the Potomac, near the president's house, until it 
nears the garden of the Capitol and then re-enters the 
eastern branch of the river by two mouths, one near the 
navy yard and the other at the arsenal. The excessive 
^eat of the summer niust always render the city an un- 



A subaltern's furlough, 95 

pleasant residence during Several months. The thermo- 
meter frequently stood as high as ninety-six degrees in 
the shade at Gadsby's hotel : the members of Congress 
might daily be seen crawling along the Pennsylvania 
Avenue towards the Capitol, with umbrellas to protect 
them from the powerful rays of the sun, at ten o'clock; 
and though receiving eight dollars per day (1/. 14s.,) 
their places were not sinecures, the House only adjourn- 
ing for an early dinner at two o'clock, and then sitting 
again until sunset, and once until nine at night. One or 
two days before I left the city, the sergeant at arms ab- 
sconded with a considerable sum of money he had drawn 
for various members of the House of Representatives, 
who had been in the habit of allowing him to fill up blank 
checks with their signatures attached, for their daily al- 
lowance of eight dollars; and, in most instances, he had 
overdrawn the sum due. No money being found in his 
possession when arrested at Bladensburgh, the members 
determined not to be losers by him, and passed a resolu- 
tion that the amount he had failed to pay over to them 
should be made good out of the contingent fund of the 
House. 

Having described the city of Washington as it is upon 
paper, I will now attempt to give an idea of its actual 
state. Let the reader fancy himself standing with his 
face to the west on the summit of the Capitol hill, a slight 
eminence, probably 60 or 70 feet in height, crowned by a 
large and magnificent building with three domes, the 
centre one considerably higher than the other two. Im- 
mediately under him is a terraced garden, and beyond 
that on the other side of a broad road, is another filled 
with young trees of every description the country pro- 
duces : while a long wide street, planted with four rows 
of tall Lombardy poplars, runs directly from him in a 
north-westerly direction, expanding into a small town as 
it recedes into the distance. To his right, is a continua- 
tion of the eminence upon which he stands, until it is skirt- 
ed by the dark line of forest two or three miles distant. 
In his rear, along the sides of the Bladensburgh road, is 
the same broken ground, but partly cultivated. To his 
left a small and rugged street runs from the Capitol gates 



96 A subaltern's furlough. 

in a southerly direction over the hilly ground, and at 
the distance of a mile and a half are seen the large sheds 
of the navy yard. Rather more to the south, but at the 
distance of two miles, near the Potomac, is the long brick 
building of the pen ■ tentiary, with the arsenal in rear of it. 
On the open ground between them and the Capitol are 
the ruins and gable ends of some houses. A canal filled 
with water in some parts, and in others only partially ex- 
cavated, winds towards him from the river, across which 
the remains of a wooden bridge, a mile and a quarter in 
length, are to be seen. Such is Washington! Upon the 
whole, it has a desolate appearance, which is increased by 
the land marked out for its site being entirely destitute of 
trees, and only here and there (excepting where the pre- 
sent town is situated) are scattered houses, each standing 
isolated, as if requiring some support on either side. The 
inhabitants, and Americans generally, fondly flatter them- 
selves that it will some day vie in splendour with ancient 
Rome. The only comparison it bears at present is with 
the modern city, in the ruins of the Potomac bridge, and 
Mr. Law's houses. The scene altogether is described 
most forcibly by a French lady, who likened it to a town 
gone out on a visit into the country. 



A subaltern's furlough. 91' 

CHAPTER VII. 

So peaceful rests without a stone, a name. 

Pope. 

The fall of waters ! rapid as the lig:ht 

The flashing mass foams shaking the abyss. 

Byron. 

Early on the morning of the 21st of June, I took the 
steam-boat and glided rapidly down the broad " river of 
Swans" (as the poor Indians termed the stream,) to Alex- 
andria, in the district of Columbia, seven miles below the 
city, but on the Virginia side of the Potomac. It con- 
tains about 8000 inhabitants, and, like most American 
towns of moderate size, has a museum, which, however, 
it is rather difficult for a stranger to find, being placed in 
the dark upper story of an old brick mansion, where some 
excellent specimens of natural history are seen to very 
little advantage. The museums in the States are generally 
good, but the owners (one and all) possess a strange taste 
for collecting such a quantity of trash and childish trifles, 
as pieces of old shells, signal and Congreve rockets, grape- 
shot, &c., fired from the British squadron, under Captain 
Gordon, at the White House, a few miles below the 
town ; jackets of volunteers stained with blood, haversacks 
of sergeants of marines killed in action, &c. that it is 
quite a labour to search for what is really worthy of no- 
tice. There are several relics of Washington's ; such as 
his military canteen, mason's dress, and the red satin 
robe in which he was christened, preserved with the great- 
est care; as also two of his original letters, one of which, 
written a month before his death, was penned in a fine 
bold hand. The old man in charge of the Museum point- 
ed out two colours taken from the British during the Re- 
volution; one from the Hessians, at the battle of Trenton, 
and the other belonging to the 7th Fusileers, surrender- 
ed by Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. There was a la- 
belled paper on each, the first bearing '-''Ahha^'' the lat- 
ter ''OmegaJ^ He said that Washington had presented 
them thus to the Museum, as the fru'.ts of his first and 

VOL. L — I. 



98 A subaltern's furlough. 

last victory. As the old man was in his own castle, I did 
not like to question the veracity of his statement ; but I 
think he must have judged from my countenance that 
I was rather sceptical. 

Having hired a horse, I proceeded on my journey to 
Mount Vernon, the burial-place of Washington. The 
guide-book told me that "the road to it was uninhabited 
and difficult to trace;" but setting forth on my pilgrimage, 
and travelling over a sandy, poor country, I managed 
tolerably well for the first few miles ; until, arriving at the 
meeting of four roads, I was at a complete non-plus^ there 
being neither sign-post nor living being from whom I 
might gain further information. Trusting to my horse 
and good luck, I rode on at a brisk trot for several miles, 
when, meeting a woman, I discovered that I had taken a 
wrong road, so struck off at once into the forest ; and 
after losing my temper ten times, and my road twice as 
often, by an hour after mid-day I arrived at the lodge- 
gates of Mount Vernon. 

I was obliged to adopt this inconvenient method of tra- 
velling, as the steam vessels from Alexandria, which pass 
within 200 yards of the house, are not permitted to land 
passengers, on the plea that great depredations were com- 
mitted amongst the trees and gardens. The proprietor 
certainly does not appear to encourage pilgrims to the 
tomb ; the road through the grounds from the lodge to 
the house being, if possible, Avorse than the highway, and 
running for a considerable distance up a deep ravine, and 
over the rough stony bed of a winter's torrent. 

It was much the fashion, during my stay in America, 
for the Volunteer Corps and "Republican Associations of 
young men," to make a pilgrimage to the tomb in a bo- 
dy; and the middle and southern States, who never allow 
an opportunity of having a laugh against their Yankee 
brethren to escape them, say, that the order forbidding 
steamers to land their passangers arose in consequence 
of a gentleman cutting so many walking-sticks from the 
sacred ground that, upon his return to Boston, he made 
a good round sum of money by retailing them at a dol- 
lar each. 

The house was originally built by Lawrence Washing- 



A subaltern's furlough. 99 

ton, a brother of the General's, and received its name out 
of compliment to Admiral Vernon, in whose expedition 
he had served. He was succeeded by the General, from 
whom (having- no children) it descended to his nephew 
Bushrod Washington, the judge, and from him to his 
nephew John Washington, who died three days prior to 
my visit ; in consequence of Avhich, I did not request ad- 
mission. I heard that there was nothing interesting with- 
in the house, excepting- a small fragment of a jug, bear- 
ing a likeness of the General, which is considered the 
most striking ever seen; the most singular part of the 
story being, that the jug was made in England by a com- 
mon potter who had never visited America. The house 
is built of wood, two stories in height, the exterior stuc- 
coed in imitation of stone ; a portico, supported by square 
wooden pillars, extends the full length of the front to- 
wards the Potomac, and the roof is surmounted by a light 
wooden tower. The situation is a very pretty one; but 
scarcely any thing has been done by art to add to the 
natural beauty. The grounds are laid out in a tasteless 
style, and kept in a slovenly manner, high coarse grass 
growing up to the very door. The Americans possess 
generally but little taste for ornamental gardening, or at 
least make no display of it ; for I seldom saw a cottage, 
or even a respectable-looking mansion, with any thing 
like a flower-garden attached to it. 

When the judge possessed the property, it consisted of 
more than 3000 acres of land; but, the law of primoge- 
niture being abolished, it was divided amongst his ne- 
phews; so that there are now but 1200 with the house; 
and although the General has been dead only thirty-two 
years, the estate has passed into the hands of the third 
generation. The late proprietor has left two sons and a 
daughter, so that the estate will be again divided, and 
must eventually dwindle into nothing. It is much to be 
regretted that the government do not take some steps 
either to keep the property entire in the family, or pur- 
chase it for the States in general. Surely if any spot in 
America deserves protection more than another, it is the 
tomb of the father of the country. Application was made 
by Congress for permission to remove the body on the 



A subaltern's furlough. 



centennial celebration of Washington's birth-day (22d of 
February, 1832), in order to bury it with great pomp in 
the Rotunda of the Capitol; but the late proprietor 
would not accede to it, stating, as his reason, that it had 
been the dying request of his grand-uncle to be buried 
at Mount Vernon. 

A fine sloping bank descends from the house nearly to 
the Potomac, when it becomes more abrupt, and is so 
thickly covered with trees that the river is not visible 
from the house. On the brow of the abrupt part of the 
bank is the vault in which the General and other mem- 
bers of the family were originally buried. The coffins 
were removed a twelvemonth since to another vault two 
or three hundred yards more inland. Both vaults are of 
plain brick, and on the original one there was not even 
any inscription, and but a weak wooden door to close the 
entrance. It was situated in the midst of a cluster of 
oak-trees, and several red pine and cedar grew on the top 
of it. The present vault has a small tablet of stone, in- 
scribed "Washington Family :" and underneath, "I am 
the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord , he that 
beiieveth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live ; 
and whosoever liveth and beiieveth in me shall never 
die." That the nation have never erected a monument 
to the man who was their idol while living, and whose 
memory is still so revered amongst them, is ever a subject 
of surprise and reproach among foreigners. The Ameri- 
cans say, in their defence, that the city of Washington, 
with its public buildings, is alone a sufficient monument; 
and that the only proper testimonial of respect to his 
name is the affectionate remembrance of the people. It 
must be remembered, however, that two days after his 
death Congress passed a resolution, unanimously, "that 
a marble monument he erected by the United States at the 
city of Washington^ that the family of General Wash- 
ington be requested to permit his body to be deposited 
under it, and that the monument be so designed as to 
commei.xorate the great events of his military and political 
life;" to which Mrs. Washington consented, saying that, 
"taught by the great example which I have so long had 
before me never to oppose my private wishes to the puh- 



101 

lie will, I must consent to the request made hy Congress^ 
Judge Marshall, in his "Life of Washington," says, that 
the Resolution, although it passed unanimously, had ma- 
ny enemies; that the party which had long constituted 
the opposition to his administration declared its preference 
for an equestrian statue, which had been voted by Con- 
gress at the close of the war, sixteen years previous; 
that the division between a statue and a monument was 
so nearly equal, that the session passed away without an 
appropriation for either : and that those who possessed 
the ascendancy over the public sentiment employed their 
influence to draw odium on the men who favoured a mo- 
nument, and to represent that measure as part of a ge- 
neral system to waste the public money. 

When I arrived at the cross roads on my return, I 
found a gentleman with his servant in the very dilemma 
in which I had been situated in the morning. He was 
quietly awaiting the arrival of some one who could give 
him information, and asked me which was the road to 
Fredricksburg, about sixty miles distant. I advised him 
to trust to his horse, as the Knights errant of old had done, 
as I could ill direct him. 

The President's house at Washington, containing some 
finely proportioned rooms, furnished in a republican style 
of plainness, is situated on a slightly elevated ground, 
laid out in walks and gardens. The building is of free- 
stone, painted white, for the same reason as the Capitol. 
Although it would be a large house for a private gentle- 
man, still a more magnificent one might have been erect- 
ed for the executive of a mighty nation. Many of the 
country residences of English commoners far excel it in 
grandeur of appearance. I passed several agreable hours 
there in company with General Jackson, the President, 
Mr. Hayne of South Carolina, who has since so distin- 
guished himself as Governor of that state, and some few 
others of the great poJriticians of the day. The President 
is a tall, hardy-looking veteran, apparently sixty-five 
years of age, with a head of strong bushy hair. His 
voice is loud, and, when excited, he possesses considera- 
ble fluency of speech, rather too much interlarded with 
strong asseverations. The Tariff* Bill formed the chief 

I* 



102 A subaltern's furlough. 

topic of conversation ; but he was unable to cope with 
tlie powerful eloquence of Mr. Hayne, his more youthful 
antagonist. 

At a short distance on either side of the President's 
house are large buildings occupied by the State and War 
departments. In the former I was gratified with a sight 
of the original copy of the famous Declaration of Inde- 
pendence,* Some of the signatures, owing to the process 
of taking off fac-similes, had been so much injured as to 
be almost illegible. The document is now carefully pre- 
served within a glass case, and no one permitted to touch 
it. Washington's commission as commander of the Ame- 
rican armies, bearing date 19th of June, 1775, as also the 
various treaties made wih foreign powers, are shown with 
the greatest readiness by the gentlemen who have charge 
of them. ' In one of the rooms are the presents which 
public functionaries, or officers of the navy and army, 
have received from foreign courts, and which, by law, 
they are compelled'to deliver over to the American govern- 
ment, who retain possession of them for no earthly pur- 
pose that I could conceive, except impressing foreigners 
with the unfavourable idea that the government was suspi- 
cious of the integrity of its public servants, and had so 
mean an opinion of its Representatives as to imagine that 
they could be bribed by a paltry sword or gold snufF-box; 
for there were no more valuable presents amongst them. 
The matter would appear in a much better light if the 
government, following the example of the East-India Com- 
pany, were to compel its servants to return the presents 
bestowed upon them to those who presented them ; and 
foreigners might then the spared being imbued with what 
are, probably, erroneous impressions. 

Numerous blue and red painted canvass bags, about 
the size and shape of a pillow, suspended from the ceil- 
ing on one side of the offi^ce of the secretary of the navy, 
with "Peacock," "Macedonian," "Boxer," "Frolic," 
and various other such names upon them, attracting my 
attention, I had the curiosity to inquire what were the con- 
tents of such a singular collection of titled bags, and was 

* Vide Appendix I. 



A subaltern's furlough. 103 

informed that the were the colours of British vessels cap- 
tured during the late war. I shrugged up my shoulders, 
and thought I had penetrated too far into the sanctum 
sanctorum of the war department. There is another very 
interesting collection of strange names and portraits of 
the Indian chiefs, who to the number of 100 have been 
sent at various times as delegates from the tribes in the 
west. They were painted by Mr. King of Washington; 
and are, I was informed by a competent judge, faithful 
likenesses of the red men of the forest, who are so rapid- 
ly disappearing before the march of civilization and en- 
croachment. To a foreigner, they are particularly inter- 
esting, as he may travel many hundred miles through 
the United States without seeing an Indian; or the few 
he may perchance see, dwelling within the boundaries of 
civilization, are a degenerate, dissipated race, and held in 
contempt by such warriors as the "Stabber," "the Spar- 
row that hunts as he walks," " the Spoon," " Sleepy eye," 
"the Bear whose screams make the rocks tremble,'^ 
"Buffalo," and various others, as represented on convass 
in the Indian Department. The great attention paid to a 
traveller, and the readine*ss with which he is shown every 
thing worthy of notice in these departments, and, in fact, 
I may say every where else in the States, is truly gratify- 
ing; particularly as it arises from a spirit of courtesy, no 
tax, as is too frequently the case in England, being levied 
upon the purse. 

The arsenal, upon the tongue of the peninsula, is now 
but a mere dep6t for ordinance stores, the works having 
been levelled since the war, when their inutility was so 
fully proved by the British landing from the Patapsco, 
marching upon and taking Washington from the rear ; 
the American troops being compelled to abandon the 
works which had been thrown up to dispute the passage 
of the Potomac alone. It was in disabling the guns on 
the ramparts that Captain Frazer and many more of the 
British force were blown up, from a piece of wadding 
accidentally falling into a dry well, in which the Ameri- 
cans had placed the contents of their magazine, trusting 
that it would escape the observation of the invaders. The 
officer in charge kindly accompanied me through the va- 



104 A subaltern's furlough. 

rious store-rooms and armouries. They contain models 
of the French and English field-pieces, with tumbrils, &c., 
complete — the English being made by request at Wool- 
wich; but the French system had been approved of, and 
will be adopted in the American service, on account of 
the uniforni size of the ammunition- wagons, and a trifling 
difference in some other respect. The American field- 
pieces are of cast-iron, the smallest calibre being eight 
pounds. The few specimens I saw of brass were very 
faulty, and honeycombed in the casting; the metal also is 
too expensive, being from 20 to 25 cents (10c?. to Is.) per 
pound. Many of the iron guns were also defective. 
Thirty-two 42-pounders had arrived two days previously 
from the foundry at Georgetown, and many were very 
roughly and imperfectly cast : the weight of each was 
8624 pounds, and the cost about 5 cents, or 2|c?. per 
pound, which makes the price of a single gun 431 dollars, 
or 90Z. sterling. They were intended for the fortresses, 
which are erecting at the mouths of all the harbours, along 
the extensive line of coast of the United States. As an 
inland war can scarcely ever be expected, the expenditure 
upon military works is along the sea-board, for which 
purpose large grants of money are made every session of 
Congress ; but, with only the present foundries at work, 
many years will elapse before a sufficient supply of heavy 
artillery can be provided for those fortresses already 
finished. In the armoury there were 40,000 stand of arms; 
the muskets averaging the great price of 12 dollars (50 
shillings) each, and the rifles much more. The latter 
were upon a principle I had never before seen ; differing 
considerably in their construction from the English, which 
I thought they excelled ; the soldier being capable of fir- 
ing five or six times per minute with them. The use of 
a ramrod, except for cleaning, is entirely dispensed with, 
the barrel of the rifle having a patent breech, or receiver, 
about six inches in length, which, by touching a small 
trigger under the stock, is opened at its upper end : and 
the necessary load being placed within the bore, it is im- 
mediately closed again by a slight pressure of the hand. 
In other respects, it is similar to the common English 
rifle, excepting that the barrel is full as long as that of a 



A subaltern's furlough. 105 

musket. The American light troops cary powder and 
ball flasks suspended across their shoulders in place of a 
cartridge-box, and the process of going twice through the 
motions of loading must retard the firing. White were 
about to give way to black leather belts, which were to 
be worn by all descriptions of infantry. The artificers 
employed in the department were principally citizens en- 
gaged for a limited period; and though Congress had 
lately passed a bill for forming an entirely military esta- 
blishment, great difficulty was experienced in finding men 
who would enlist, when they could obtain equally high 
wages by daily labour elsewhere. 

The navy yard, half a mile from the arsenal, is upon 
the eastern branch of the Potomac, and on a larger scale 
than that at Philadelphia. It contains various sheds and 
storehouses, foundry, saw-mill, and two large sheds for 
ship-building, under one of which a vessel of 48 or 50 
guns was in an unfinished state. The channel, as in 
the Delaware, becomes shallower yearly by the increase 
of mud; nor is there now sufficient depth of water for 
the launching of any such vessel as the Columbus, of 74 
guns, which was built in this yard a few years since. I 
saw a schooner at ancho?" oft^ the pier, constructed upon 
a principle which has, I believe, been tried, and failed in 
England ; namely, without knees, and entirely of thick 
planks laid in tiers over one another, each successive tier 
being placed at a diflferent angle from the preceding one, 
so as to strengthen each other. This vessel was called the 
"Experiment," but had failed in realizing the expecta- 
tions of the builders : it carried 12 guns, and had just 
arrived from Norfolk navy yard, near the mouth of the 
Chesapeake ; some knees were subsequently added, but 
the naval officers entirely disapproved of the whole con- 
struction. 

Georgetown, higher up on the banks of the Potomac, 
and only divided from Washington by the inconsiderable 
stream of Rock Creek, was formerly a place of some im- 
portance, but of late years has felt the effects of Baltimore 
on its commerce, which has now dwindled into insigni- 
ficance. On the margin of the river, scarcely any thing 
is to be seen but long rows of desolate dwellings and 



106 A subaltern's furlough. 

empty warehouses, with their window shutters moaning 
in the wind, as if over the fallen prosperity of the town. 
It contains a population of little less than 10,000, and is 
prettily situated on a series of heights, at a fine bend of 
the river. Its interior streets are well laid out, and con- 
tain some very good private residences. The College, 
whose members generally profess the Catholic religion, 
is in ancient pile of building, with a large library, and 
some good paintings. The students were chaunting ves- 
pers, with rather a sweet-toned organ, as I entered the 
chancel. Within the distance of half a mile there is a 
large academy for young ladies, attached to a convent, 
which however my unhallowed foot was not permitted 
to profane. The school bears a very high character, up- 
wards of 200 girls attending daily, many of whom are 
taught gratuitously. There are also nearly iOO board- 
ers of the most respectable families in the neighbourhood, 
for whom there is a regular charge. 

I proceeded several miles up the Chesapeake and Ohio 
Canal (which enters the Potomac here by four locks from 
the rising ground,) on the 23d of June, in one of the 
packet-boats, which ply daily upon it, and found the 
travelling most delightful : I was the only passenger, and 
there was a neat, well-furnished cabin about 50 feet long 
by 14 broad. We were dra^vn by three horses at the rate 
of five miles an hour, a huge negro riding on the last, and 
driving the other horses before him with a long whip, 
which he flourished and cracked most adroitly. The boats 
calculated for carrying merchandize are near 100 tons 
burthen, and will carry between 900 and 1000 barrels 
of flour, the freight being at two cents per ton per mile. 
The canal is six feet deep, and sixty wide at the summit. 
It was commenced on the 4th of July, 1828, with the in- 
tention of connecting the waters of the Ohio and Chesa- 
peake rivers, by uniting with the Pennsylvania and Ohio 
Canal, near Pittsburgh, in the former State; when its en- 
tire length will be 361 miles, having a lockage of more 
than 4000 feet. The government subscribed 200,000 dol- 
lars towards its construction — a mere trifle to the estimat- 
ed expense of 12 millions; and, as far as I could under- 
stand the merits of the case, it appeared the work could not 



A subaltern's furlough. 107 

proceed much longer unless an additional grant was made, 
to which the policy of the present ministry is opposed; 
contending, as they do, that each State should manage its 
internal improvements without making any demand upon 
the funds of the general government. About twenty-six 
miles of the line were finished at this time; but unless the 
prospect brightens, it is supposed that half a century Avill 
elapse before any dividend can be paid, the expenses at 
present being from 6 to 7000, and the receipts not ex- 
ceeding 27,000 dollars per annum; an insufficient sum 
to pay the interest of the expended capital. The traffic 
will of course increase as the line of canal becomes opened 
in the interior of the country ; but at this time there were 
no signs of prosperty. In a distance of thirteen miles we 
did not meet a single boat. The canal runs parallel with 
the river, varying from ten to fifty feet above its level ; 
and, in some places, has encroached upon it, by strong 
embankments being thrown up where the ground was 
too rocky and high to admit of easy excavation. In 
other places advantage has been taken of the course of 
ravines, in which the tops of submersed trees just make 
their appearance above the surface of the water. The 
contrast between the works of art and nature is exceed- 
ingly fine. The canal flows smoothly and placidly along, 
with not a ripple upon its bosom ; while the broad Po- 
tomac, separated only by a narrow pier, is seen far be- 
neath, rushing fiercely in a wild and tumultuous roar 
over a rough bed of rocks, and whirling along large 
trunks of trees with tremendous violence. 

The musk-rats occasion a deal of mischief by boring 
holes from the river; and these, if neglected, soon become 
serious breaches in the embankments. The engineers had 
fallen into a trifling error in forming the sloping sides of 
the canal of earth ; so that the rapid motion of the boats 
had occasioned the water to undermine the towing-path. 
The river was formerly rendered navigable, by short ca- 
nals beingformed round the rapids by means of locks ; but 
such a mode of conveying produce was subject to many 
inconveniences and delays ; the draught of water in other 
parts, during hot summers, being frequently insufficient 
for heavily laden vessels ; and, in heavy freshets, boats 



108 A subaltern's furlough. 

were endangered by floating masses of timber or sunken 
rocks. The proposition of rendering the Potomac naviga* 
ble, originated from Washington himself, who saw the vast 
advantages the State would derive from it ; and, from 
continuing a canal to the Ohio, that it would divert the 
produce of the west, which at present floats so many 
hundred miles down the Mississippi to New-Orleans, into 
the Atlantic States. When once carried into effect, it will 
no doubt produce a reaction of trade in favour of George- 
town and Alexandria ; by which they will become two of 
the greatest ports for the exportation of flour in the 
Union. The course of the canal is through a pretty and 
romantic country, the^banks of the river being bold and 
well wooded. We arrived at the Great Falls, sixteen 
miles from Washington, in less than four hours, having 
passed through twenty locks, the average passage of each 
being two minutes and a small fraction. 

I had heard the distant roaring cf the mighty waterfall 
for some minutes before the boat stopped ; and, as soon 
as it received a temporary check at a lock, I sprang ashore 
sketch-book in hand, a young lad, belonging to the packet, 
crying out, " Shall I show you the way, sir ? I always go 
with gentlemen, sir;" at the same time running to accom- 
pany me. " Get away with you," said I, half angry at 
the intrusion, and alarmed at the very idea of my first 
view of the cataract being destroyed by a ^^oung urchin 
interrupting my reveries and feelings of ecstatic delight, 
with such sentences as, " There's more water comes over 
in a freshet, sir !" — " The Virginia side is the best one to 
see it from, sir." The little fellow was, however, I be- 
lieve, half frightened, for he shrunk back at my blunt refu- 
sal of his company, and I saw no more of him at that time. 
Throwing myself down the steep embankment of the 
canal, I floundered on through pools of water, tumbled 
over lumps of rock, regardless of rattle-snakes and other 
reptiles, scratched my hands and face, tore my coat 
amongst the bushes, and, hurrying under an alpine bridge 
thrown across a ravine from one projecting rock to an- 
other, without scarcely deigning a passing glance at it, or 
any thing else, I rounded a point, and came in full view 
of the great and grand object which alone occupied my 



A subaltern's furlough. 109 

tlioug-nts. From the feelings J experienced at that mo- 
ment, I could imagine the sensations of awe and delight 
with which the weary pilgrims first gain sight of the lofty 
minarets and domes of the prophet's tomb at the holy 
city of Arabia. In a moment the troubles of the past and 
care for the future are alike forgotten ; the perils and pri- 
vations undergone in their long and arduous marches over 
the burning deserts are at last fally compensated. But 
once in my previous life do I remember experiencing such 
pleasurable emotions — -when, after an absence of some 
years in a foreign land, the dim blue line of my native 
country appeared rising from the main. I raised my 
hands, and uttering some exclamation, stood gazing in 
silent and indescribable astonishment for some minutes. 
I found that subsequently I viewed Niagara with less 
inward feelings of awe and delight. The rush of water 
was greater, and every thing was upon a more sublimely 
magnificent scale ; but the Potomac had partly prepared 
me, and I had already formed some indistinct idea in my 
imagination of what I should see ; but of this I had not 
the slightest conception. 

I am but ill at describing scenery, and may, therefore, 
be excused for merely taking notice in simple terms, of 
what the Americans would designate as the " location of 
the Falls." The river gradually contracts to a width 
of 700 or 890 feet for some distance above the rocky bed 
of the Rapids, over which it foams and roars most terri- 
fically ; until, gaining the edge of the precipice, it shoots 
over in a white sheet into a troubled abyss beneath ; and 
rushingfuriously along between two narrow perpendicular 
w^alls of rock for the distance of a mile, again expands into 
a broad but rapid channel. The country in the immediate 
vicinity bears the appearance of having been once con- 
vulsed by volcanic eruption ; as if the huge rocks had 
been thrown upon one another by gigantic efforts of 
nature ; every thing seems to have been subjected to some 
almighty agency. It was now the middle of summer, at 
which time, I believe, the Falls'^are seen to the best ad- 
vantage, the water being purer and the rocks in the river 
not entirely concealed from the view. During the autum- 
nal floods, or the melting of the winter's snow, when the 

VOL. 1. — K. 



110 A subaltern's furlough. 

waters rush in one vast sheet of foam over the whole 
breadth of the chasm, they may present a more terrific- 
ally grand and fearful aspect, and be more calculated to 
inspire awe ; but certainly not so beautifully picturesque 
as during the summer's sunshine, when nature appears in 
her mildest and serenest form, and the prismatic hues of 
the rainbow are seen glistening in the white mist which 
rises from the pure and limpid stream, as it glides over 
the rocky shelves. After passing two hours in admira- 
tion, I returned to the packet, and, as the sun set, arrived 
at my quarters in the Pennsylvania Avenue, 



subaltern's furlough. Ill 



CHAPTER VIII 



2(i Carrier. — I think this be the most villainous house in all Lon- 
don road for fleas ; I am stung like a tench. 

1st Car. — Like a tench ? by the mass, there's' ne'er a king in 
Christendom could be better bit than I have been since the first cock — 

ShakspearEo 

Through roads abrupt, and rude unfashion'd tracts. 

Blackmore. 

On the 26th of June I again crossed the Potomac to 
Alexandria, and travelling in the mail over a heavy, sandy, 
and hilly couQtry, until near sunset, entered the pretty little 
village of Aldie, situated amongst the hills. We were now 
in Loudoun county, and at the same time observed an im- 
provement in the soil : the crops were heavier, and the 
ragged worm fences gave way to substantial stone ; but 
as yet I saw nothing like good farming, or any buildings 
equal to those in England. In addition to the little dis- 
appointments I experienced from this appearance of the 
country, I had the misfortune to be troubled with a gar- 
rulous, fat old German, vvho had been in the States above 
half a century, and bored me with long prosing histories 
of the battles of Brandy wine and Yorktown, interspersed 
with anecdotes of his commander, Lafayette. He was 
now seventy-eight years of age, and boasted much of his 
bodily strength : to prove that of his lungs, he produced 
a bugle-horn from its leather case, and blew a blast both 
loud and strong, which I was so inconsiderate as to ap- 
prove of The old gentleman's vanity being flattered, he 
insisted upon treating me at the first tavern, where the 
coach stopped to change horses, with a draught of mo- 
lasses beer; and when we had resumed our seats, favoured 
me at intervals with a repetition of the music. All my 
hints respecting soreness of lips, injury to lungs, head- 
aches, &c., were not only entirely thrown away, but made 
the matter so much w^orse, that I was fain to put up with 
the annoyance until our arrival at the small town of Mid- 
dleburgh, when I was happily relieved from him. It was 
late in the evening before we reached our journey's end ; 



112 A subaltern's furlough, 

so, soon after supper, requesting to be shown to my room^ 
I was, to my infinite surprise, ushered into one containing 
four beds, three of which were already occupied. Being 
heartily fatigued, what from the abominable road, and the 
old man with his bugle-horn — and as the coach was to- 
start again at four o'clock in the morning — I was the less 
inclined lo be very particular ; so, as a sailor would say, 
"turned in," though not without shrewd suspicions that 
I should not be the sole occupant, having, as I was recon- 
noitring, caught a glimpse of an enemy retiring under 
cover of the pillow. Never was poor mortal so tormented ! 
I was fairly driven from my post, and walked down stairs 
before three o'clock, to await the arrival of the coach, 
muttering a requiescat in pace as I passed the restless 
bodies of my companions in misery. The dirty inn at 
Middleburgh will certainly not soon be erased from my 
memory. 

From WoodvilJea few miles farther, where there was 
the ordy vineyard I ever saw in the country, to the Blue 
Ridge the scenery was delightful. We m^et many Dutch 
farmers with their heavily-laden flour wagons, and saw 
groups of others cooking their victuals under the trees 
by the road side, all appearing the happiest and most con- 
tented beings imaginable. Leaving their farms upon the 
banks of the Shenando, which waters part of the valley of 
Virginia, they proceed with their load of flour for the Alex- 
andrian market, and, carrying their hatchets and provi- 
sions, pass the night in their wagons. Thus avoiding all 
expenses, excepting the half dollar for tolls, they dispose 
of their load, and with clear profits forthwith return home. 
Having breakfasted at the inconsiderable village of Paris, 
we commenced the ascent of the Blue Ridge, which is 
easy, and not exceeding a mile. I had accustomed my- 
self some little to the jolting of the vehicle, and had, 
therefore, taken my seat outside by the coachman, that 
I might enjoy the prospect to greater advantage. While 
praising the appearance of the cultivated and highly fer- 
tile vale lying between the Ridge and the North moun- 
tains to him, he remarked that, " for his part, he preferred 
the hills, and should like to live upon them for some time; 
for he was fond of hunting, and intended quitting hi^ 



A subaltern's furlough. 113 

present work, so that he might get some hounds, with a 
good horse, and have some sport; there was also plenty 
of gunning on the mountains' side." 

This low chain of hills, which in England would be 
considered diminutive, has acquired its name of the Blue 
Ridge, from presenting a deeper shade of that colour than 
hills do in general ; but, when travelling across them in 
summer, one would be led to imagine it arose from the 
vast quantity of blue thistle which flourishes upon them in 
a most extraordinary manner ; patches of many acres in 
extent were so densely covered with the light blue flower, 
that the verdure was quite imperceptible. But when I 
pointed it out to the sporting coachman as a strong 
symptom of slovenly farming, he endeavoured to con- 
vince me that a new era in husbandry had commenced : 
it having been most satisfactorily ascertained that the 
thistle, so far from impoverishing, as was generally sup- 
posed, improved the soil. 

A few miles after our descent, we arrived at the ferries 
across the Shenando; but the water being low, forded the 
stream, where it was about three feet deep, and a hundred 
yards wide, into Frederic County. The villages scattered 
along the banks are far from healthy, owing to the heavy 
rains swelling the river, and leaving vegetable matter to 
decompose upon the ground when the water recedes to 
its summer channel : the inhabitants at this time were 
suffering much from the scarlet and bilious fevers; the 
former had carried off thirteen slaves from one gentle- 
man's estate in the course of a few weeks. This, which is 
however considered the richest tract of land in the vale, 
is in the hands of great landed proprietors: the extent 
of the fields varies generally from twenty to thirty acres, 
and produces fine crops of every description of grain ; the 
term "corn" is applied to Indian corn only. Until aware 
of this distinction, I had been guilty of some slight mis- 
takes in stating, to farmers' inquiries, that corn grew in 
England, and was commonly in use. Ten miles farther 
brought us to the town of Winchester, containing about 
2500 inhabitants, and distant seventy-five miles from 
Washinoton. Its dirty streets, with stepping-s^ores for 
foot-passengers at the crossings, presenttd no inducement 

K* 



114 A subaltern's furlough. 

to remain a night; but the coach proceeding no farther 
upon my route, I was compelled to wait till late the fol- 
lowing day, when I again started, and at the small town 
of Smithfield, where the coach stopped to change horses, 
met two gentlemen who had just been overturned in 
their carriage : and, after rolling down a precipice, had 
most miraculously escaped with their lives. They com- 
plained bitterly of the exorbitant demand of five dollars 
made by a wagoner for carrying the remains of their 
carriage fifteen miles. Truly, it Avas no wonder that it 
was shattered to pieces; for the mail, in which I travelled, 
could not exceed a foot's pace over the limestone ridges, 
projecting two feet above the level of the road; and some 
of the hills were so steep, that it was a matter of great 
thankfulness we safely gained the summit of them, or 
that the heavy vehicle in the descent did not crush down 
the horses. I should much have enjoyed the society of 
a gentleman M'ith whom I travelled on the Chesapeake 
and Delaware railway, w^ho said, that " he did not at all 
approve of so easy a mode of conveyance — for he re- 
quired exercise." He would certainly have met it here to 
his heart's content. After eight hours' hard jolting, we 
gained the hills above Harper's Ferr}^ thirty miles from 
Winchester: the road had for some time continued on 
their summit ; and as we reached the brow, previous to 
descending, the last gleam of day was just gilding the 
woody tops cf the opposite mountains. The town, as it 
lay far beneath, could be but indistinctly seen in the shade 
cast over it by the towering masses of rock with \a hich it 
was encircled ; but which rendered more vivid the bright 
flashes of a rapid succession of tremendous quarry blasts, 
as the echo was reverberated amongst the hills and 
rocks, like the great artillery of heaven. The white lines 
of the two impetuous streams, the Potomac and Shenando, 
rushing together from nearly opposite directions, like 
mighty giants struggling for mastery, unite into one 
channel in front of the town, and thus force their passage 
through an opening in the hills. A band of music was 
playing upon Camp Hill at the entrance of the town, 
where the tents of an itinerant circus were pitched ; and 
the bells beneath us giving notice to the workmen that 



A subaltern's furlough, 115 

the labours of the day had ceased altogether, rendered 
the scene impressively striking. 

Having been furnished at. Washington with introduc- 
tory letters to G. Rust, Esq., in charge of the government 
establishment for the manufactory of arms, he kindly ac- 
companied me through the numerous shops and forges, 
which give employment to more than 300 men, though 
the greater part of the work is performed by machinery. 
The different processes of turning the gun-stock from 
the rough wood, were performed in less than five minutes, 
and those of fitting the lock and barrel upon it occupied 
but two more. The test for the bayonet appeared un- 
necessarily severe, and so many failing in it, the price of 
the musket is rendered much greater, than if one, which 
might be sufficiently satisfactory, was substituted; it con- 
sisted in fixing the bayonet on the muzzle, wdth a twelve- 
pound brass ball attached to the breech of a gun-barrel, 
then placing the bayonet horizontally in two holes just 
fitting it, and nearly its length apart, w^here it was left for 
about two minutes, the entire weight acting upon the 
bayonet, which, if unbent by this trial, was turned round 
and put to the same test upon the other sides. The 
barrels were well finished, and made of iron from the State 
of Connecticut, a distance of 256 miles; but the brass 
bands, which fastened the barrel to the stock, gave the 
musket a heavy clumsy appearance. Not only was the 
barrel and other iron-work bronzed, but even the bayonet 
also. In the arsenal, under the charge of an old English 
sergeant of marines, who had served under Nelson, were a 
hundred thousand stand of arms, finished, and packed for 
sending to the various arsenals in the States, and for dis- 
tribution amongst the militia. The present American 
rifle, which I described as having seen at Washington, as 
also the machinery in use at the rifle manufactory at 
Harper's Ferry, were the invention of Mr. Hall, who is 
the superintendant of the establishment, in which near a 
hundred workmen are employed. As, in the musket ma- 
nufactory, much of the work is performed by machinery, 
one man through the medium of it being able to rifle thirty 
barrels per dajr. There is one turn in nine feet, so that 
each barrel, being longer than that of the English rifle. 



116 A subaltern's furlough. 

has about one-third of a turn. Mr. Hall showed me a 
new invention, a specimen of which he was busily en- 
gaged in finishing for inspection at Washington. It con- 
sisted in screwing a short but narrow bayonet to the end 
of a highly tempered steel ramrod, which, when drawn 
nearly out of its socket, was firmly secured at the muzzle 
of the rifle by a sliding ring ; and thus formed a weapon 
eight feet in length. I did not at all approve of it, for it 
appeared too slight a defence against even the parry of a 
sword, which caused it to bend immediately; but the in- 
telligent inventor was very sanguine in his expectations 
of its being generally adopted in war. Every thing con- 
nected with both establishments was carried on with 
great exactness and neatness. 

The town will soon rise into considerable importance, 
not only from the attraction of the natural beauty of its 
scenery, and the large manufactories, but also from the 
circumstance of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal running 
by the side of the Potomac, which is crossed by a bridge 
of 700 feet in length, opposite to the town. I walked 
for some distance along the line of their operations, and 
never saw a more laborious undertaking, than the blast- 
ino- and excavatino- at the foot of the hills, which are 
nearer 800 feet in perpendicular height. Wherever it was 
practicable, piers have been formed in the river, so that a 
considerable extent had been reclaimed from it. A trial 
€ame on, during my stay at the town, respecting damages 
claimed by the proprietor of a small house which occu- 
pied the space bet^veen the river and rocks, so exactly in 
the centre of the line of canal, that there was not room 
for it on either side. The owner did not lay his damages 
at the intrinsic value of the house (and the lot upon which 
it was built was but a mass of rock, upon which he could 
not even form a kitchen garden,) but upon the great loss 
he should sustain from not possessing such a piece of 
ground when the canal was completed, and the jury as- 
sessed the damages accordingly, and at least, at four times 
the value of the property, tlpon the face of the bare 
rocks, 400 feet above the bridge, the inhabitants of the 
town have formed an imaginary likeness of Washington; 
but it required a greater stretch of fancy than mine to 
trace any thing like human features upon it. 



A subaltern's furlough. 117 

There being no conveyance in the direction I wished 
to proceed, I stepped into a large fiour-boat about to 
descend the Potomac, and for some distance darted over 
the rapids with amazing velocity. The river is rendered 
particularly dangerous, and almost innavigable during the 
summer season, by the innumerable reefs of rocks which 
cross it in every direction, making their appearance some 
feet above the surface. An experienced pilot is therefore 
required, who, in the freshets, takes his station at the 
helm astern ; but in low water, in the bow. The river 
being excessively low, we had a pilot at each end of the 
boat so that it threaded the most difficult parts in'gallant 
style, rubbing the keel occasionally a little upon the 
summits of the rocks beneath the water. The load was 
only forty barrels when we left the town; but, after pass^ 
ing the most precipitous and narrow rapids, we ran in- 
shore again, and took on board an additional number of 
thirty, from some wagons Avhich had brought them by 
the road from Harper's Ferry, and again proceeded 
rapidly down the transparent stream, with romantic 
scenery on either bank, until we struck with a most vio- 
lent shock upon a sunken rock, which, taking the boat 
in its centre, made every plank and barrel quiver with 
the blow. All hands immediately set to work moving 
the cargo into the bow ; but being still immovable, the 
Captain of a Mississippi steamer, a passenger on board, 
recommended the crew to go into the water and attempt 
to raise it from the rock with levers, stepping out of the 
boat himself to give them the necessary instructions. No 
sooner had his feet touched the bottom of the river, and 
he had quitted his hold of the boat, than the powerful 
current, washing him fairly off his legs, carried him for 
a considerable distance down the stream, with his head 
bobbing up at intervals, like the float of a line when a 
fish is nibbling at the bait. At every re-appearance of his 
head above the foaming waters, he " roared him," not as 
Shakspeare says^ 

" As gently as any sucking- dove," 

but more like a young elephant, and excited shouts of 
laughter from the crew, who were too much amused with 



118 A subaltern's FUiiLOUGH. 

the scene to make any attempt at rescuing him. Being- 
very short-sighted, and his spectacles becoming dim from 
the water, it was no easy matter for him, after discovering 
our position, to regain the boat ; when his ardour was 
so cooled that he did not recommend any more experi- 
ments. 

The application of levers failing, we had recourse to 
the simple method of placing some loose planks that were 
fortunately on board, across the stream, and holding them 
firmly between the boat and some of the rocks, so that, 
•acting as a small dam, they raised the water, and the boat 
once more floated. But, soon after, runnino- a-o-round 
agam in the shallows, we had the prospect of passing the 
night in that situation, until an empty boat, on its way 
down the stream, took us ashore at the Point of Rocks, 
nine miles below Harper's Ferry ; in performing which 
distance we had been nine hours, and toiling hard most 
of the time in an excessively hot sun. 

A town rises in America with an almost talismanic ra- 
pidity. Immediately some new line of canal or railway 
is projected, or a clearing commenced on the banks of a 
navigable stream, a tavern makes its appearance upon a 
spot where it is imagined the traveller will require a 
" drink ;" this is followed by a saw and gristmill, a store 
or two, post-office, printing-press, and bank. To use 
their own expression, "every one goes the whole hog :" 
'the freshets probably carry away the mill, or the bank 
hreaks, and the owners " clear out," to commence their 
speculations afresh elsewhere. Where sixty days since 
had been a complete wilderness, was now a scene of bustle 
and confusion : a town was fast rising from amongst the 
bushes ; the streets were marked out, and a tavern, seve- 
ral stores, and upwards of fifty houses, were already 
inhabited. The fortunate proprietor of the ground had 
sold every other lot for a trifling sum, and retained the 
remainder in his possession, letting it upon short build- 
ing leases ; also calling the place after his own unroman- 
tic name, and superseding the much prettier one of" Point 
of Rocks," to which indeed it owed its rise. The Point 
is the end of a range of rocky hills, which opposes a firm 
;barrier to the advance of the Baltimore railway and Chesa- 



A subaltern's furlough. 119 

peake Canal : which have both the same object in view — 
that of communicating with the Ohio. By much blastings 
and enormous expense, there would be barely room for 
either of them to pass between the Potomac and the Point ; 
but both arriving at the same spot from different direc- 
tions, and nearly at the same time, each claimed the right 
of priority in taking possession of the narrow passage. 
The canal proprietors made an offer so to compromise 
the matter that, l3y each diminishing the respective widths 
of their lines of communication and making a joint ex- 
pense of reclaiming some space from the river, there 
might be a passage for both. The railway proprietors, 
however, objected to it, and laid an injunction upon the 
canal to discontinue their works until the case had been 
tried in a legal court. After a law-suit of two years, the 
verdict was given against them, and the canal engineers 
were now busily engaged in removing the point of Rocks. 
Some bores had been worked to the depth of 13 feet, so 
as to undermine 1000 square yards of rock, which would 
be blown up as a grand salute on the 4th of July, to the 
celebration of which it now wanted only three days. I 
could not ascertain how they intended to proceed with 
the railway ; but it was stated that the rival company 
would not object to renew its original proposition. It is 
most probable that the canal will not extend beyond 
Cumberland, the company's funds being nearly exhaust- 
ed ; though the public seem impressed with the advan- 
tages to be derived from the original project being carried 
into execution. The Alleghany Mountains are a natural 
barrier between the Western and Atlantic States ; and 
the former will become daily more independent of, and 
distinct from the latter, which may end in a separation, 
unless mutual intercourse and commercial communica- 
tions are kept up by such undertakings as those alluded 
to. 

I thought the inns at Harper's Ferry very shabby, 
both externally and internally, though one was kept by 
an ex-member of Congress, and major of militia ; but 
the one at the Point of Rocks, being in its infancy, was 
less prepared for the reception of numerous guests than any 
I had seen. From the accommodation with which I had 



520 A sitbaltern's furlough. 

met since my departure from Washington, I had enter* 
tained no expectation of any luxury above a single bedj 
m probably a crowded room ; and a wash in the morning* 
without glass, soap, or towel, at the pump or horse- 
trough in the public yard. Upon inquiring if I could 
be accommodated with a bed, I was therefore perfectly 
satisfied with an answer in the affirmative, qualified with 
a regret " that their mattresses had not yet arrived from 
Baltimore." I soon became heartily tired of seeking for 
adventures in these out-of-the-way places, where all the 
arrangements were infinitely worse than in an English 
pot-house. The owners of the taverns were usually men 
whose sole recommendation consisted in shooting well 
with a rifle, and bearing a commission (something higher 
than a subaltern's) in the militia. My landlord at Har* 
pers' Ferry excelled in invariably striking a quarter of a 
dollar (which is about the size of an English shilling) 
with a single ball at thirty paces distant. Injustice, how- 
ever, to the honest innkeeper at the Point of Rocks, I am 
bound to say, that, in the hurry of my departure, I left 
a coat hanging up in the bar room, and, after a journey 
of 3000 miles, found it neatly packed up and directed to 
my address at the hotel in New- York, where it had been 
laying for upwards of four months, though I had long 
despaired of ever seeing it again. After a delightful 
swim in the clear Potomac, and wearied with the day's 
hard labour, I requested to be shown up stairs, when I 
was again ushered into a room containing six beds, all 
of which were to be doubly occupied : the house, too, be- 
ing built of wood, had become so heated during the day 
that the fire-king himself could have scarcely endured 
the temperature. This was rather too much for a plea- 
sure-seeking traveller; so, walking down stairs again, I 
stepped into a car which I had observed during the day 
upon the railway, and found my boat companion, the 
Mississippi Captain, had already taken possession of a 
corner, in search, like myself, of a cooler atmosphere. 
The railway was continued down to the waters edge 
close to the Point of Rocks ; and we were much disturb- 
ed during the night by a man moving the car in that di- 
rection. My fellow-occupant, still having I suppose the 



A subaltern's furlough. 121 

recollection of the rapids strongly impressed upon his 
mind, jumped out of the car half awake, up to his knees 
in a pool of water, and, fancying* himself in the Potomac, 
floundered about in it to my infinite amusement. Some 
time elapsed before he gained the firm ground again, 
when, turning round, he checked my laughter at once 
by saying, " Really I beg you ten thousand pardons, but 
1 was in so great a hurry that I could not find my boots, 
so put on your shoes ; however, I will have them dried 
for you again." They were not, however, completely 
dry again for three days. This incident destroyed my 
night's rest so thoroughly that at three o'clock I set out, 
in company with a gentleman whose acquaintance I had 
formed merely by chance the preceding day, and who had 
very kindly obtained a horse for me in the neighbourhood. 
We rode for some miles on the towing path of the canal, 
close to the placid and mirror-like surface of the Potomac, 
which presented a delightful contrast to the rough turbu- 
lence of the many miles of rocky torrent above the Point. 
We passed by the quarries from which the columns in 
the Capitol at Washington were cut, and for some dis- 
tance through part of the estate of the fine old patriarch, 
Charles Carroll, of Carrolton, who, at the age of ninety- 
six, lives in the full enjoyment of his faculties, revered 
and beloved by his countrymen ; being the only survivor 
of those daring men, who, in 1776, risked their lives and 
properties by affixing their signatures to the Declaration 
of Independence.* 

At the mouth of the Monocacy River, which pours its 
waters into the Potomac six miles from the Point of 
Rocks, we arrived at a splendid aqueduct, considered su- 
perior to any thing of the kind in the States, thrown over 
the former river by the Canal Company. It is built of 
a hard white granite, and consists of seven segment arches, 
the span of each being 54 feet, with a rise of 9 feet in the 
arch, and the entire length, including the wings, 509 
feet. The water upon the aqueduct is 6 feet in depth, 
and the towing path 8 feet broad, with a strong iron rail- 
ing on the outer side. The entire work will cost 125,000 

* Since writing the above, I have seen a notice of his death in the 
public prints. 
VOL. I. — L. 



1325 

dollars (26,000?. sterling.) The first contractor took il 
at seven dollars per perch, the second at eleven ; and both 
failed in the performance ; the third and present one has 
it at eleven dollars and fifty cents {21. 8s. sterling.) Two 
hundred yards beyond this is a beautiful piece of work- 
manship, over the Little Monocacy, of a single oblique 
arch of twisted masonry. 

After partaking of a scanty breakfast, upon my return 
to the Point of Rocks, I proceeded to Baltimore, fifty 
miles distant by the railway, which crossed the Monocacy 
some miles from its embouchure into the Potomac. The 
whole line of road bore the appearance of having been but 
slightly surveyed previously to laying down, and as if 
finished hastily, in order to compete with its rival ; some 
of the curves round the hills and along the course of 
rivulets, were such as to entirely cut off all hopes of being 
every able to establish a rapid conveyance by the intro- 
duction of locomotive engines. The inclined planes were 
very precipitous, two of them being about at an elevation 
of 1 in 50, where a tunnel of half a mile would have avoid- 
ed the hill. The rails, being laid also upon wood, are too 
unstable for such a purpose, and liable to be affected by 
severe frosts. 

Much dissatisfaction was expressed by many of the 
passengers, who could not obtain any thing stronger 
than water to quench their thirst at the various places 
where we stopped to change horses, from either the 
owners of the houses or the proprietors of the railway 
being subscribers to the rules of the Temperance Society. 

There was great sameness in the scenery, until we 
crossed the Blue Ridge, where it became more diversified 
and picturesque, especially near the flourishing town of 
Ellicott's Mills, in a most romantic dell on the Patapsco 
River, whose margin was occupied by numerous extensive 
cotton-mills, scattered over an extent, of several miles, 
giving the country quite an English appearance. The 
manufactories were prettily situated amongst the trees on 
the banks of the river, which were ornamented with clean 
white cottages and gardens, backed by huge masses of 
dark granite. Several fine bridges have been built across 
the ravines and streams between this place and Baltimore. 



FURLOUGH. 123 

One over Gwynn's Falls is a single arch of 80 feet span, 
and 40 in height : and another across the Patapsco of 
four arches of 55 feet span each : but, although furnished 
with such admirable materials, their masonry is much 
inferior to that used in similar works in Europe. The . 
main object in America appears to be, to finish the job in 
hand in as short a time and as economically as possible. 
Several of the principal engineers complained to me fre- 
quently of the mistaken economy which they were com- 
pelled to pursue, and of the rapidity with which they 
were obliged to proceed, without being permitted to con- 
struct the work in such a manner as to reflect credit upon 
themselves. The "deep cut " and embankment near the 
city have been stupenduous undertakings, the former be- 
ing nearly a mile in length, and its greatest depth 70 
feet, and the latter of about the same length, with its 
greatest width 190, and elevation 56 feet, the heaviest 
and best finished section of the road being from Elli- 
cott's Mills to Baltimore. 

I was only eight hours and forty minutes on the journey 
from Baltimore to Philadelphia, a distance of ninety-seven 
miles (sixteen of which were performed by horse carriage 
on the Chesapeake and Delaware Railway:) a material 
improvement in the speed of travelling on that to which I 
had been obliged to submit. Much against the advice of 
several friends (the alarming news that the cholera had 
broken out in New- York having just arrived,) I proceed- 
ed on my journey the following morning, the 3d of July, 
wishing to be present at the celebration of the " glorious 
anniversary," which was. I understood, kept up with 
more pomp at New-York than elsewhere in the Union, 
imao-inino- that a few scattered cases would not check all 

o o 

festivities. I was rather surprised to find so many pas- 
sengers on board the steamer in which I embarked to 
proceed up the Delaware : but, the news having arrived at 
Philadelphia only late in the evening, it was not generally 
known. As soon as the report, however, began to spread 
through the vessel, our numbers diminished considerably 
at each place where we touched; many being intent upon 
returning home and others intending to remain where they 
landed until the account was corroborated by the arrival of 



134 A subaltern's furlough. 

a vessel from the infected city. A Virginian lady, who 
had two pretty daughters in charge and was upon her 
way to the Northern Springs, burst into tears and cried 
most bitterly when the unwelcome information was im- 
parted to her, and left us at the first small village where 
the steamer touched, fully determined upon returning 
forthwith to her native State. 

The banks of the river are low, and very unhealthy 
during the " Fall " (as the Americans invariably term the 
autumn ;) but some pretty little villages are scattered upon 
either bank, more especially those of Barliiigton and 
Bristol, nearly opposite to each other, eighteen miles from 
, Philadelphia: I have seldom seen two such tastefully laid 
out little spots. The houses are very neat and above the 
common order, with gardens attached to each, extending 
to the margin of the river, which is ornamented with large 
and graceful weeping willows, whose branches kiss the 
watery element. The tower of a summer-house, in the 
domain of Joseph Buonaparte, at Bordentown, where the 
ex-king of Spain, or, as he is called in the States, the 
Count de Survilliers, resides, is seen from the deck of the 
steamer; and six miles farther on the left bank is Trenton, 
the capital of the state of New- Jersey, containing about 
4000 inhabitants, and the termination of the steam navi- 
gation, there being a succession of rapids immediately 
above the town. A singular kind of bridge of five arches, 
and 200 feet span, is thrown across the stream ; these' 
arches are roofed in, and from them is susnended a flat 
bridge, whose principal beams rest upon the piers of the 
other bridge. The carriages and passengers cross the 
river on the lower one ; but the upper arches give the 
appearance of there being one bridge built upon another. 
The town, at the commencement of the Revolutionary 
war, was in the possession of a party of Hessians and 
English, who were surprised, and 1000 prisoners cap- 
tured by Washington, on the 26th December, 1776. He 
crossed the Delaware on Christmas night, when the se- 
verity of the weather had subjected his army to almost 
incredible sufl^erings. It was the first signal victory gained 
by the Revolutionists, and, occurring when many consi- 
dered themselves engaged in a hopeless contest, gave 



A subaltern's furlough. 125 

them a confidence which ensured ultimate success, and 
was soon followed by the partial surprise of an English 
division at Princeton, ten miles farther. The main road 
crosses the field of action, on the high grounds at Stony- 
Brook, Upon our arrival at Trenton, nine coaches were 
drawn up at the pier to receive the passengers from the 
steamer, and set off in their regular order (I had the 
misfortune to be in No. 6,) and, keeping within a few 
yards of each other over a sandy road, such immense 
clouds of dust enveloped us, that it was only at intervals 
I gained a glimpse of the country through which w^e 
travelled. The College at Princeton, founded in 1738, is 
rather a fine old building, and we enjoyed an extensive 
view over the long flat which extends towards the ocean, 
during the few minutes we remained to change horses. 
This part of the country, and the slate of New Jersey ge- 
nerally, is celebrated for its cider, and very extensive peach 
orchards, farmers having accumulated large fortunes by 
the growth of them. We passed many upon the side of 
the road nearly twenty acres in extent, and every tree load- 
ed with fruit. The soil also, being light and sandy, is ad- 
mirably adapted for the growth of apples and flax; but the 
cultivation of flax has much decreased of late years, 
there being now not an eighth of the quantity grown 
which was some few years since exported from New- 
York, so entirely has its use been superseded by cotton. 
The country also bears the appearance of being longer 
settled and more highly cultivated than more to the 
south. Twenty-six miles from Trenton w^e arrived at 
New-Brunswick, a town consisting (with probably two 
or three exceptions) of wooden houses ; and we hailed 
with joy the sight of the smoke of the steamer, which 
lay in the Raritan River awaiting our arrival. Half 
suffocated with dust, and parched with thirst, w^e jumped 
on board every one scrambling for a whisk brush, a glass 
of brandy and Avater, or a wash-hand basin. 

We here added greatly^ to our numbers, by the acces- 
sion of 200 Irish labourers from a railway in the vicinity, 
who were all proceeding to celebrate the Declaration of 
Independence, and in less than an hour scarcely one of 
them could boast of retaining his sober senses ; when the 



136 A subaltern's furlough. 

deck presented a scene which would have done credit to 
Donnybrook Fair. One poor fellow slipped overboard as 
we were putting off from the quay at New Brunswick, 
and lost his passage ; for, the steamer not stopping its 
engines, he was obliged to struggle to the shore in the 
best manner he could amongst the cheers of his country- 
men. Man (with an exception or two, in such people as 
Leander and Lord Byron,) is always an awkward kind of 
animal when in the water, but I thought this one, with 
a large hat over his eyes, and bundle under his arm, of 
which he in vain attempted to retain possession, and 
but an ordinary swimmer, a most ludicrous and singular 
object. 

For several miles after leaving New-Brunswick, we 
proceeded up the Raritan through some extensive salt 
marshes, where numerous people were busily employed 
in mowing. The river took most extraordinary curves 
through it, and, being exceedingly narrow, the vessels we 
were meeting appeared as if moving upon the dry ground, 
and those which were by the course of the stream three 
or four miles astern as if approaching from an opposite 
direction, only a few hundred yards distant. Perth. Am- 
boy, thirteen miles farther is a bathing-place of some 
note for the New- York fashionables ; and sometimes de- 
signated as their Brighton. It possesses an extensive and 
safe harbour, being situated at some distance from the 
open sea, on a bay of the Atlantic, formed by Staten Is- 
land (fifteen miles long and eight wide) on the one side, 
and by the Continent on the other. 

The opening view of the Bay of New- York, with its nu- 
merous vessels, batteries, and spires, is most magnificent. 
There is no rich back-ground, or lofty hills, or any single 
object which of itself is striking. It is the tout ensemble 
which is so pleasing. We saw it to the greatest advantage, 
within an hour of a mild and glorious sunset, Avhen the pla- 
cid surface of the bay was covered with almost innumerable 
sails, and the several islands, with their clean snow-white 
forts and batteries, were reflected upon its bosom as upon 
a mirror, and land and sea alike were tinged with a light 
and mellow haze. Numerous broad estuaries and rivers 
branch off from the bay, intersecting the country in every 



A subaltern's furlough. 127 

direction, which is sufficiently free from forest, and its 
graceful undulations are richly diversified with beautiful 
villages and extensive farms. The spot whence we caught 
the first sight of the city was opposite to the Merchants' 
Marine Asylum, on the island — a building erected, as its 
name denotes, for the reception of the worn-out sailors of 
the merchant service ; the superfluous funds, which are 
extensive, are most laudably appropriated for the provi- 
sion of the widows of captains who have been subscribers 
to the institution. The site seems admirably well calculat- 
ed to soften doAvn the rigours of declining old age ; as the 
veterans may enjoy a most delightful prospect of the city, 
and its forests of masts, with every inward and outward 
bound vessel ; as also the views of Elizabethtown and 
Newark, at the upper end of the Sound. Within twelve 
hours from our leaving Philadelphia, we landed at New- 
York, a distance of ninety-four miles; and, after under- 
going as much annoyance from the officious attentions of 
hackney-coachmen and porters as one would in the streets 
of London, I at last arrived in safety at the City Hotel, 
in Broadway. 



138 A subaltern's furlough. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Another plague of more gigantic arm 
Arose ; a monster never known before 
Rear'd from Cocytus its portentous head : 
This rapid fury, not like other pests 
Pursued a gradual course, but in a day 
Rush'd as a storm o'er half th' astonish'd isle, 
And strew'd with sudden carcases the land. 

and here the Fates 
Were kind, that long they linger'd not in pain ; 
For who surviv'd the sun's diurnal race 
Rose from the dreary gates of hell redeem'd, 
Some the sixth hour oppress'd, and some the third. 

Frantic with fear they sought by flight to shun 
The fierce contagion — o'er the mournful land 
Th' infected city jwur'd her hm'rying swarms. 

In heaps they fell, and oft one bed they say 
The sick'ning, dying, and the dead contained. 

Armstrong. 

Dogberry — First who think you the most desartless man to be 
const^-ble ? 

\st Watch — Hugh Oatcake, Sir, or George Seacoal ; for they can 
read and write. 

Shakspeare. 

The morning of the 4th of July was ushered in with 
none of those noisy symptoms which usually proclaim the 
celebration of some great national festival, processions 
and festivities of all descriptions having been discouraged 
by the board of health. The public prints echoed the 
same directions, and strenuously advised the people not 
to assemble in crowds, which would rather have a ten- 
dency to encourage the advance of the fatal enemy they 
so much dreaded. The order, therefore, respecting a ge- 
neral parade of the troops was cancelled, and during the 
day there was but one insignificant civic procession ; and 
a few ill-dressed and worse-drilled volunteer artillery, 
who where bent upon firing a salute, paraded through 
the principal streets with a band of music and brigade of 



A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 129 

guns, carrying their noisy purpose into execution at mid- 
day, in an open square on the margin of the bay. A 
crowd of boys of all shades of colour, with a few children 
of a larger growth intermixed, assembled upon the trot- 
toirs, firing off guns, pistols, and crackers, to the im- 
minent peril of the eyes and limbs of the peaceable citi- 
zens of New- York. Although this last species of an- 
noyance had been strictly forbidden by the public autho- 
rities, it was a law "more honoured in the breach than 
the observance;" and was publicly persevered inthrough- 
" out the entire day and greater part of the night, without 
any efforts being made to check it. A few sons of Old 
Erin, with a negro or two, might also be seen keeping 
a holiday; and, at the hotel, I overheard a party (of what 
country I know not) who Were taking a glass of 
wine two hours after the rest of the table d'hote had dis- 
persed, singing — 

"Here's a health to the King, God bless him." 

In the evening I attended the Park Theatre, the Drury 
of the United States : its front was brilliantly illuminated, 
and decorated with a large transparent painting of Wash- 
ington. The bills of the performance were headed in large 
\ characters with " Liberty or Death;" and the Glory of 
Columbia, a drama with miserable dialogue and plot was 
performed as an introductory piece to a series of national 
songs and farces, seasoned, of course, with some hard 
blows in the shape of abuse at John Bull. We had 
"Yankee Doodle," and "Sons of Freedom," twice en- 
cored; and the orchestra played Washington's March, and 
General Spicer's March, " Hail Columbia," and "the Star- 
spangled banner," at least half a dozen times each ; every 
patriotic citizen appearing to think himself in duty bound 
to attempt keeping time, whether or not he had any ear 
for music, by stamping upon the floor of the box with his 
feet, so that let the music be what it would I could 
scarcely hear a bar. 

It is said that seldom a day elapses without a fire in 
New- York. This day there were not fewer than ten. At 
one which I witnessed, four or five houses were destroy- 



130 A subaltern's furlough. 

ed, and a fireman was killed. Most of these conflagra- 
tions, I heard, had their origin from squibs or crackers: 
and thus ended the 4th of July, 

So many Americans had spoken to me of the grandeur 
and magnificence of Broadway, some even asserting that 
no street in London was superior to it, that I felt very 
much disappointed, and think that the same comparison 
might have been more justly drawn with Liverpool. The 
shops in it certainly cannot vie with those even in the 
latter town; but, in the number of equipages, New- York 
excels it, and far outvies London, or any English town, in 
its hackney coaches, which are so remarkably neat, and 
even handsome, that a foreigner might be well excused 
for imagining them to be private carriages. Broadway 
is throughout the day thronged with gay vehicles and 
equestrians, and a perpetual stream of that convenient but 
uncomfortable London Carriage, an "omnibus," not the 
least remarkable thing about those in New- York being 
that (though every man affects to despise titles and rank) 
they are all named " Lady Clinton," " Lady Washington," 
" Lady Van Rensselaer," and others as strangely incon- 
sistent. Sometimes, too, servants in half livery may be 
seen sitting on the box of a carriage, whose door-pannels 
are ornamented with a crest. This street is about three 
miles in length, and eighty feet in width, extending in 
nearly a straight line from one end of the city to the other. 
The streets are clean for an American city ; but the ap- 
pearance of the cholera had caused the corporation to 
exert themselves in attending more closely to the cleanli-' 
less of them. Some Vv^ag observed, in one of the public 
prints, that the scavengers had actually dug down to the 
pavement in one or two places, and that the city was 
cleansed tho-roughly. 

Manhattan Island, on which the city stands, and which 
is formed by the Hudson, the Harlasm, and East rivers, 
with the bay on the south, is fifteen miles in length, and 
from two to three in breadth. The Old Town, near the 
bay, much resembles an English one, but the northern 
part of it is as regularly laid out as Philadelphia or Wash- 
ington, and numbers about eighty-seven streets. The 
wharfs are similar to those of Philadelphia, but not quite 



A subaltern's furlough, 13i 

so ragged, and extend much farther up the east than the 
Hudson, or North River, as it is generally called, thus de- 
priving the great discoverer of the honour of giving his 
name to the noble stream. On the south-west point cf 
the island, overlooking the bay, is a fine public promenade, 
of from 500 to 600 yards in length, and 150 in breadth, 
prettily laid out in walks, and planted with trees. In the 
evenings it is generally crowded with citizens, who as- 
sembleto derive the benefit from a pleasant breeze off the 
water, or listen to a band that frequently plays in the 
Castle garden, which is connected with the walk by a 
wooden bridge, upon which, and along the whole extent 
of the public walk, may be seen various Cockney anglers, 
of most persevering dispositions. The former promenade 
is called the Battery, from having in the olden times of 
the Dutch settlers, or during the Revolutionary war, 
mounted a few guns : and the Castle garden in a similar 
manner possesses no garden, nor could it ever have pos- 
sessed one, being a modern stone fort, with twenty-eight 
embrasures, buitt upon a solid rock, which appeared but a 
short distance above the water. This being an unprofitable 
kind of investment of funds, has been let by the Corpora- 
tion to a publican, who has converted it to a much more 
profitable use, charging sixpence sterling for admission, 
and giving a ticket, so that the visitor may enjoy a stroll 
upon the upper platform of the fort, admire the view, and 
then call for a glass of some liquor at the bar, for which 
he is not charged any thing. The Battery, nevertheless, 
is the most pleasant promenade in New- York, and far 
excels any thing else of the kind in America. Governor's 
Island, about three-quarters of a mile distant in the bay, 
has a large stone circular fort, with three tiers of embra- 
sures, and is calculated for more than 100 guns at its 
western extremity. When I entered it through the small 
wicket door, I was nearly upset by a quantity of half- 
starved pigs, which rushed grunting up to me, as if at- 
tempting to gain the exterior of the fort, and compelled me 
to make strenuous use of my walking-stick. The interior 
was little better than a stye, and in a most unfinished 
state. In the centre of the island, a small quadrangular 
fort is connected with the circular one by a covered way, 



132 A subaltern's furlough. 

with barracks and military stores in the interior. Vast 
numbers of workmen were employed in facing the works 
with granite; and the whole island forcibly reminded me 
of Washington Irving's happy description, as " resem- 
bling a fierce little warrior in a big cocked-hat, breathing 
gunpowder and defiance to the world." Though these 
works may not enhance the attractions of the scene, they 
do not, like the numerous poplars on the island, mar the 
beauty of the noble sheet of water ; and, if those who 
hold dominion over the island possessed any love for 
the picturesque, they would grub them up root and 
branch ; for certainly, to quote the above ingenious au- 
thor again, they do look " like so many birch-brooms 
standing on end." On Bedlow's and Ellis's Island, as 
also at the Narrows (the entrance of the bay from the 
Atlantic,) are most formidable batteries, nearly all of 
which are at present upon the peace establishment, as I 
did not see a single gun mounted, and only a few, with- 
out carriages, upon the circular fort on Governor's 
Island. 

Of the public buildings, the City Hall, containing the 
Supreme Court, Mayor's Court, and various public offices, 
situated in the park, a fine and handsome square, is the 
most remarkable ; and, being fronted with white marble, 
has a beautiful effect when seen through the forest-trees 
in the park. The building is upwards of 200 feet in 
length, with a dome and tower surmounted by a statue of 
Justice. A rough stone prison on the right, and a building 
on the left used as a cholera hospital during my resi- 
dence, occupy one side of the park: this last appeared, 
from its large portico in front, and style of architecture, 
to be a church. The Merchants' Exchange in Wall-street 
(the Lombard-street of London) is a fine edifice, of the 
same material as the front of the City Hall. The base- 
ment story is occupied by the Post Office, and above it 
the Exchange, 85 feet in length, 55 in wadth, and 45 in 
height to the dome, from which it is lighted. The greater 
proportion of the other buildings in the street are in- 
surance offices, banks, and exchange offices. With regard 
to the charitable institutions, I can say nothing, the 
cholera raging so violently in some of them that it would 



A subaltern's rURLOUGH> 133 

not have been prudent to have visited them; and strangers 
were refused admittance to the prisons for fear of im- 
parting the disease to the inmates. In the Academy of 
Fine Arts there was scarcely any thing which could im- 
press one with a favourable idea of the advance of the 
pictorial art in New- York. The portraits were all stiff, 
unnatural productions, devoid of all life, and evidently 
from the brush of very young artists. The arthiiectural 
designs, too, of which some few were displayed, were but 
poor and void of taste. Colonel Trumbull, some of whose 
efforts in the art decorate the Capitol at Washington, and 
who is the president of the academy, also exhibits his 
paintings, many of which are historical, in a separate 
exhibition. They are rendered particularly interesting by 
containing nearly 250 portraits of-persons distinguished 
during the revolution. The rest are miniatures, and 
copies from celebrated artists, painted by Colonel Trum- 
bull when studying in England. The American engrav- 
ings show a great harshness and indistinctness of touch, 
which must ever be the case where so little encourage- 
ment is given to the art. One of the principal booksellers 
in Broadway assured me he found it exceedingly difficult 
to dispose of a few copies of the annuals which are got 
up iii Boston: the demand being only for the English. 
Scarcely any of the literary sketches or illustrations in the 
former are original : the few contributions which can boast 
of being truly American are such as would not find a 
place in any British magazine. The only good specimens 
of lithography I ever saw in the States were by Pendleton 
of New-York. 

The Museum in the Park contains some excellent spe- 
cimens of natural history, very well arranged. Although 
it cannot vie vv^ith Philadelphia in displaying such a mon- 
strous skeleton as the mammoth, yet it may be said to 
have a mammoth turtle, — such indeed as of itself would 
almost furnish sufficient soup for a lord mayor's feast. 
It was caught off Sandy Hook, within fifteen miles of the 
city, by some pilots, and weighs 1000 pounds. 

Niblo's Gardens, in imitation of those at Vauxhali, 
were a great attraction to the citizens, and the arrange- 
ments were most admirably conducted. There was aa 

veL. I. — M. 



134 A SABALTERN^S FURLOUGH, 

excellent band of music, and a good display of fire-worku 
the night I attended, with a much greater assemblage of 
people than I should have expected, A panorama was 
exhibited in one part of the building, where the visitors 
assembled for hearing the music. It represented the 
struggle of the Greeks for their liberty, and the battle of 
Navarino. The owner, or showman, informed us that it 
had been exhibited in Leicester-square ; but I much 
doubted whether he treated his audience in London Avith 
the lecture upon the blessings of liberty with which he 
thought fit to favour them in New- York. He represented 
to us in the most glowing terms and bombastic language, 
with the tone of a man who acts in the same capacity in 
a menagerie, " how the English had no right to enter the 
bay of Navarino; that they were the first peace-breakers ; 
and, had the ofhcers commanding the batteries at the en- 
trance of the bay been but for a moment aware of such 
an intention, they would have instantaneously sunk the 
whole fleet '" 

At the Bowery Theatre, which holds the second rank 
in the histrionic world in New- York, but which in the 
external appearance and elegance of its interior excels 
that m the Park; I saw Miss Vincent, a young American 
actress of great promise, perform in Goldsmith's play of 
" She stoops to Conquer," and the " Maid of Milan." 
Her talents were of a higher order than those of any 
American actress I saw in the country. 

I was much amused with the familiar manner in which 
an auctioneer, who held sales of books and prints every 
evening in some rooms in Broadway, spoke of the execu- 
tive, and men in authority, w^hen he had occasion to make 
mention of them. I whiled away many an idle hour in 
listening to his wit, and the quick repartees from some 
of the assembled crowd. One night, when he had some 
biographical w^orks to dispose of, the following scene oc- 
curred. " Here," said the wag, bringing out' the Life of 
Jackson, "who'll buy old Hickory?" — the name b^ which 
the President is generally called, from the hard wood 
which they say he rivals in toughness. " I'll give a cent 
for it," said some one; " you shan't," answered the other, 
" I'll not let it go for twice that; I'd sooner keep it my- 



n subaltern's furlougHo 135 

self:" at last it went for a quarter dollar. The next 
work he brought out was the Life of Clay, " Come! 
here, they ought to go together, who'll bid for our next 
would-be president? he shall go for two cents." " Will- 
be president!" said a rough voice out of the crowd, 
*' twenty-five cents." " Take him, then, Mr. Cash, he's 
yours — he's not worth half that — -you 11 stick in the mud 
before you have waded half through it." 

The churches in New- York are handsomer edifices than 
those in the southern cities I visited, and contain some 
interesting monuments. St. Paul's, in the Park, is one 
of the finest in the States. In the interior, there is a 
tablet in the chancel to Sir Robert Temple, baronet, the 
first consul-general to the United States from England, 
who died in the city; and one to the wife of the British 
governor of New-Jersey, who died during the revolution 
from distress of mind, being separated from her husband 
by the events of the time. In the yard, also, there is a 
large Egyptian obelisk of a single block of white marble, 
32 feet in height, erected to Thomas Emmett, an eminent 
counsellor at law, and brother of the Irish orator who 
suffered during the rebellion. When I visited New- York 
again, some months afterwards, one front of it was em- 
bellished with an emblematical representation of his for- 
tunes. Though it was in an unfinished state, and the 
canvass had not been removed from before the scaffolding, 
I could catch a glimpse of the representation of a hand, 
with a wreath or bracelet of shamrock round the wrist, 
clasping one with a similar ornament of stars, and the 
eagle of America bheltering the unstrung harp of Ireland, 
Mr. Emmet had emigrated to the States, and settled in 
New- York, where he had acquired considerable reputa- 
tion many years previous to his death. There is also ano- 
ther monument near it under the portico of the church to 
General Montgomery, who fell in the unsuccessful attack 
upon Gluebec in 1775. This monument was erected pre- 
viously to the declaration of independence by the Congress ; 
and in 1 81 8, when his remains were removed from Gluebec 
to New- York, and interred at St. Paul's, another tablet 
was added recording the event ; though at the time great 
doubts were entertained whether they actually were the 



136 A subaltern's furlough, 

general's remains which were exhumed. The matter was,, 
however, subsequently set at rest beyond a doubt, by the' 
publication of a certificate* drawn up by the person who 
had actually buried the general in the first instance, and 
who was then living in Quebec, at a very advanced' a o-e, 
being the only survivor of the army which served under 
Wolfe. There is a very handsome monument, near the 
centre of the churchyard, erected by Kean, of Drury Lane 
Theatre, to Cook, the actor. Trinity Church, which is also 
m Broadway, was the oldest in the city, havino- been ori- 
ginally built in 1696, but destroyed by fire ei|hty yeai^ 
afterwards, although from the circumstance of a monu- 
ment m the churchyard, of 1691, it appears it was used 
as a burial-ground some time previously. Though not 
containing much above an acre of ground, by a mo'derate 
calculation, not fewer than 200,000 bodies have been 
buried in it. Of late years there have been no burials 
and weeping Avillows with various trees have been planted] 
which in time will make it ornamental to the city. In 
one corner are the ruins of a monument, erected but six- 
teen years since to Captain Lawrence, of the American 
navy, who fell defending his Ship, the Chesapeake, against 
Sir P. Broke, in the Shannon. His body was taken to 
Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and buried there with all the ho- 
nours of war, the pall being the American ensign sup- 
ported by six of the senior captains in the royal navy, 
then in the harbour. But the Americans immediately 
after sent a vessel with a flag of truce to apply for the 
removal of the body, which being granted, it was re-buried 
m Trinity Churchyard, and the present monument, no 
lasting memorial of his country's grief, erected upon the 
spot. It IS a most shabby, economical structure, built of 
brick and faced with white marble. The column, of the 
Corinthian order, is broken short, with part of the capital 
lying at the base of the pedestal, emblematic of his pre- 
mature death. Owing to the summit being exposed to 
the weather, the rain has gained admittance into the in- 
terior of the brick-work, and has given the column a con- 
siderable inclination to one side. Some of the marble 

* Vide Appendix 2, 



X subaltern's furlough. 137 

front also, with two sides of that of the pedestal, have 
fallen down and exposed the shabby interior. Surely 
such a man deserved a monument of more durable mate- 
rials. That the Americans, however, were not unmind- 
ful of the respect paid to his remains by the British, ap- 
pears from the following part of the inscription upon the 
monument : — 

" Hi.s bravery in action 

Was only equalled by his modesty in triumph, 

And his magnanimity to the vanquished. 

In private life 

He was a gentleman of the most generous and endearing qualities ; 

And S) acknowledged was his public worth 

That the whole nation mourned his loss, 

And the enemy contended with his countrymen 

Who most should honour his remains." 

There is a monument near it to the memory of General 
Hamilton, who had served with distinction under Wash- 
ington, and ranked high as a statesman. He was killed 
in a duel by Colonel Burr, the Vice-president of the 
United States, who is yet living in New- York. The 
inscription is as follows : — 

To the memory of Alexander Hamilton 

The Corporation of Trinity Church 

Have erected this monument 

In testimony of their respect for 

The Patriot of incorruptible integrity, 

The soldier of approved valour, 
The statesman of consummate wisdom ; 

Whose talents and whose virtues 

Will be admired by a grateful posterity 

Long after this marble shall have mouldered into dust. 

He did July 2d, 1S04, aged 47. 

Brooklyn, on the opposite side of East River, and situ- 
ated upon Long-Island, is a place of considerable import- 
ance, containing upwards of 12,000 inhabitants. There 
are many country seats in the immediate vicinity, belong- 
ing to New- York merchants. In the navy yard on Wall- 
about Bay, at the upper end of the town, were two large 
frigates upon the stocks ; and, as in the other yards at 
Philadelphia and Washington, considerable additions 

M* 



138 A subaltern's furlough. 

were making in erecting buildings, piers, &c. The in- 
trenchments thrown up in defence of the town in 1776, 
when the American army received so terrible a defeat 
from the British and Hessians under Cornwallis and 
Clinton, still remain upon the hill in the rear of the navy- 
yard ; and the marsh where so many were smothered in 
the retreat is seen from thence near the Bay upon the 
right. Situated in a similar manner on the opposite side 
of the city, and across the Hudson, is Hoboken, a parti- 
cularly pretty spot and great promenade and lounge for 
the citizens. They assemble here in great numbers, the 
gardens being tastefully laid out in walks, to stroll about 
and to enjoy a ride upon a circular rail-road devised by 
some ingenious person. It is built upon frame work, 
raised three feet from the ground. The carriages which 
run upon it are so constructed that these who sit in them 
by turning a handle in front of the seat, keep the carriage 
in motion, when it is once set ofi^by a slight push, and 
urge it along with great rapidity ; being allowed to travel 
three times round it, three-quarters of a mile, for a shil- 
ling. However, it was a pleasure which 1 thought dear- 
ly earned, and very f;itiguing to the arms, for those who 
are ambitious of speedy travelling. There area doubltt 
set of rails, and only two carriages, which take contrary 
directions, so that a sluggish man cannot be run over. 
Hoboken being in New Jersey, and out of the jurisdic- 
tion of the city, afiaiis of honour are generally settled 
under a high bank, some distance ab:ve the landing-place 
where General Hamilton fell. Upon my return one day 
from this place to the cit^^ I met a procession of several 
hundreds of African blacks, parading through the streets, 
with music and banners of their different trades and so- 
cieties. The majority of them appeared to be true wor- 
shippers of Bacchus ; the sailors carried some models of 
small vesselsofvv'ar,jvhi!e their band, rolling about in front, 
attempted to play the "British Grenadiers." Ail wore a 
yellow sash across their shoulders, and those at the head 
of the column, apparently the officers of the Society, were 
upon horseback, and equipped in frock coats, blue sash- 



A subaltern's furlough. 139 

es, yellow or blue satin trowsers, making their steeds 
caper about, and 

" Witching the world with noble horsemanship." 

Of all dandies, the negroes in Ameiica are the most in- 
tolerable; a fashion, to come up to their idea of taste, 
cannot be too outre ; let it be ever so ridiculous, they 
adopt it imiT^ediately. When I was in New- York striped 
trowsers, kid gloves, three or four feet of o^uard chain for 
the watch, and gold headed canes, wore the " correct 
thing ;" with tw^o-thirds of the sable countenance con- 
cealed by the well-starched collar of the shirt. On Sun- 
day atternoon, when the streets in all the cities appear- 
ed entirely given up to the African world, it w^as a high 
treat to witness the switching of canes and important strut 
of the one sex, and the affected dangling of parasols and 
reticules of the other. Familiar nods or distant bows of 
recognition were acknowledged with all the air of people 
who had be( n rehearsing their parts during the other six 
days of the week, or taking lessons from the manners of 
their masters' visitors. 

Crossing over to Hoboken, on the 9th of July, I took 
the coach and proceeded near the high ground on the 
right bank of the Hudson to the small village of Aqua- 
kinock, and thence upon a rail-road which had been lately 
opened to the flourishing town of Paterson, on the Pas- 
saic River, sixteen miles from New- York. It wanted 
an hour to mid-day, when I arrived and the rain pour- 
ing in torrents caused the dirty streets to look more miser- 
able and dull than even New- York, from which every 
one was hurrying who could possibly afford means. The 
driver of an omnibus came across the river in the steam- 
boat with me, and had his entire family w^ith baggage 
stowed within and without his carriage, intending to re- 
main in the country until the dreadful pestilence abated. 
I had also crossed over to Paterson, w^ith the intention 
of staying there for a few days ; then, after making a 
short tour to the Pennsylvania coal-mines and Wyoming, 
to return to the city, trusting that the inhabitants would 
be more settled. But the melancholy-looking day made 
me wish myself back again, in a place where, whatever 



140 A subaltern's furlough. 

other drawback there might be, I could at least lay my 
hands upon a book to pass away a few dull hours. After 
listening by the hour to a long dissertation upon the 
Reform Bill from a stout, one-legged man, I encounter- 
ed another unconscionably long story, from a little spare 
person, about hunting and "old Kentuck," in the middle 
of which all his audience, excepting myself, deserted 
him, and, betaking themselves to their brandy and water, 
gradually dropped off one by one to their respective 
homes. At last even I left my chair, where I had been 
most patiently sitting in a half dose, without hearing a 
single word the Kentuckian had been saying for the last 
forty minutes, and, yawning, W'ished him good evening, 
just as he had got me some half dozen miles up the Mam- 
moth Cave. Thus, having lost his audience, he rose, 
and, discovering that his umbrella was gone, said, w4th 
an air which appeared almost to console him for the loss, 
" Well, I guess he must be a mean fellow who would 
clear off with it ; for it w^as but a mean umbrella, and I 
don't care one cent about it, only the pole and shove-up 
are good, that's a/^c." As I was on the point of retir- 
ing, a man entered the room smiling and looking as if 
he had some good joke to impart. I therefore determin- 
ed to wait a few minutes longer ; but he only whispered 
to the story-teller, and both, laughing heartily, left the 
house together. In a minute or two came another, with 
the same important countenance, who took away the 
landlord ; and immediately afterwards the bar-keeper 
disappeared in the same mysterious manner, leaving a 
little girl in charge of his department. My curiosity was 
now excited to the utmost ; so laying down my candle 
again, although it w^as still raining heavily, I follow^ed 
him out into the dark street, and down it for some dis- 
tance, until, w^alking up the steps of a house, he opened 
the door, and entered. Seeing a crowd of people inside 
wearing their hats, I also stepped in, and found myself 
in a small frame room, devoid of all furniture, excepting 
two rough chaifs, and a strong greasy table, with some 
benches placed against the walls, from which were suspend- 
ed lists of the Newark and Hoboken coaches, steam- 
vessels, lotteries, the comic almanac, and other placards. 



A subaltern's FURLOUGH/ 141 

One of the ricketty old chairs was occupied by an elderly 
sharp f^^atured man, with long- gray hair, brushed so as to 
display a high forehead, and with a pair of spectacles 
fitted on the very tip of his nose, which he took off at in- 
tervals of a minute or two, and looked round with great 
dignity upon the people assembled. Then, after taking 
the circuit, he let his eyes fall upon an ill-dressed man, 
apparently an artizan, who sat in the other chair oppo- 
site, and scrutinized his appearance from head to foot; 
while he himself leaning back upon his own seat, and ba- 
lancing on the iiinder legs of it, had his feet crossed on the 
top of the table, upon which lay a plentifully thumbed and 
dogs' -eared volume, some writing-paper, and an ink-stand. 
I was utterly at a loss, for some time, to discover for what 
purpose so many silent people could have collected to- 
gether, and was, at last relieved from my susperise by the 
elderly man suddenly rousing himself, and saying, w^ith 
the air of a man just struck by some bright thought, or 
as if determined upon some great undertaking, "State 
the charge against the prisoner :" and for the first time 
I found myself in the presence of an American Justice of 
the peace. The man who had so coolly taken possession 
of the other chair was charged with "paying for a quack 
tity of clams (shell-fish,) which he had purchased from a 
little boy, with a counterfeit dollar note." It apj eared, 
upon the evidence of a host of witnesses, that he had been 
taken from a tavern where he was superintending the cook- 
ing of the clams, and that his confederates had made their 
escape. The prisoner protested most vehemently against 
the accusation, asserting his innocence in a long story, 
which was not at all connected with the charge, and was in- 
terrupted momentarily by the observations and witticisms 
of the by-standers, on the chance of his being lodged, free 
of expense, in good apartments, at Sing-Sing (the State 
prison,) and joking him upon the loss of his clam supper. 
The Justice appeared to have less to do with the business 
than any one else ; until some one called out, " Let the 
squire cross-examine him." "Aye do cross-examine him, 
squire," reiterated fifteen voices ; and the squire, acord- 
ingly, peering over the top of his spectacles, let fly a vol- 
ley of "Who are you?" "what's your trade?" "where are 



142 A SUBALTERN*S FURLOUGH. 

you from?" " what brought you to tliis town ?" " where 
did you get that note?" "what's your name?" and other 
questions, with such amazing* volubility, as if he was re- 
solved to confuse the prisoner with the very weight of 
them, concluding- by saying-, " Well, I move that this 
fellow be committed, and that we make up the dollar for 
the boy." Silver coins to the amount were immediately 
thrown upon the table by the by-standers; and the squire, 
smiling- complacently, threw himself back in his chair, 
with his eyes fixed upon the ceiling-, quite overcome with 
the exertion of the prisoner's cross-examination. One man 
remarked that "he had better dismiss him, for the dollar 
would stand the state in 200 dollars to prosecute." The 
-wooden-legged man also took a most prominent and active 
part in the jokes and gibes upon the prisoner, saying, "You 
richly deserve three years in Sing-Sing !" " So do you, if 
every rogue had his deserts," answered the man. " Very 
likely," said the first; "and. if I go there, I shall make 
special application to be put in the same cell with you, 
and 1 will then give you a good flogging." Soon after 
anotlier party came in with one of his accomplices, against 
whom ilie first turned evidence, and was therefore ad- 
mitted to bail; but, not being- able to furnish it, the squire 
permitted him to go away on his bare promise that he 
would return the following day, and the other culprit was 
delivered over to a guard of citizens, who volunteered 
their services for the night. Although throughout the 
scene was ridiculous in the extreme, there were still some 
traits highly creditable to the Justice and by-standers, 
especially in the spirit with which the collection was 
made for the boy, and the readiness with which they all 
proffered to take charge of the prisoner until the morn- 
ing. 

The town already contains nearly 10,000 inhabitants, 
and is increasing most rapidly; there are at present nearly 
thirty cotton-mills, iron and brass foundries, in the upper 
part of it, with gardens so tastefully laid out, and the 
banks of the river kept so neat, and ornamented with 
weeping willows, as to compensate for the broken 
bridges and dirt of the lower part of the town. It is 
estimated that each new mill brings an increase of 1000 



A subaltern's furlough. 143 

to the population ; and two more were building- when 1 
visited the place. It will ere long be the Manchester of 
those parts, and one of the largest manufacturing towns 
in the Union. They have already the advantage of a 
rail-road and canal to transport their goods to New- 
York and Philadelphia ; and much machinery is made 
for exportation to the southern markets. 

The Passaic River is very romantic in the immediate 
vicinity of Paterson ; but, upon inquiring where what 
are called the " Grand Falls " were to be seen, I was 
much disappointed to find that they were actually in sight 
and very unimportant, the stream being diverted on three 
levels for the supply of the mills. There were but about 
100 gallons per minute falling over a precipice of 70 feet 
into a dark and narrow gulf, over which a bridge has 
been thrown. Some few years since, an American, of the 
name of Patch, leaped from a spot very near it into the 
chasm beneath, with the intention, as was stated, of com- 
mitting suicide: but, finding himself without injury in the 
water, he made from that time a trade by taking a similar 
leap from most of the falls in the States; and at length 
met his death, in 1829, by striking against some sunken 
rocks at the falls of the Genesee, in the town of Ro- 
chester. The water powder which these falls afford is so 
■valuable as to produce an income of 25,000 dollars pej 
annum to the proprietor. 

Having ascertained that I could not obtain any other 
conveyance to Easton, on my route to the coal mines, than 
a heavy canal boat, which would not arrive in less than 
three days, although only sixty miles, I returned to New- 
York, notwithstanding the alarming accounts of the in- 
crease of cholera, on the 12th of July. The city bore a 
very different appearance from that which it presented 
when 1 had landed ten days previously, or even when I. 
kad departed for Paterson. At that time only the timid 
had fled to the watering places on the sea-coast, or the 
Catskill Mountains on the banks of the Hudson. Since 
then every one who could afford means appeared to 
have followed their example. The public gardens and 
theatres were closed, and in many streets entire rows of 
houses were deserted, their late occupants having fled 



144 A subaltern's furlough. 

from the dreadful pesfilence. A steam-vessel on the 
Hudson carried away 700 passengers at one time, and 
yet refused to take many who were anxious to escape. 
The gay shops in Broadway were closed hy half past 
eight in the evening ; the facetious auctioneer had no 
audience; and only a solitary individual was at intervals 
seen hurrying down the street, as if upon some urgent 
business. The bustle of Wall-street had almost ceased 
and trades' -people of every description complained that 
bankruptcy must certainly come upon them, if the general 
panic continued. The vast shoals of travellers who had 
been hurrying towards the north, to escape the more un- 
healthy climate of the south, were met here by a more 
dreaded enemy than even the yellow fever, and had ail 
returned to their homes, or betaken themselves to the 
springs in Virginia. The hotels were comparatively 
empty. The earl and countess Belmore had arrived from 
Jamaica for the express purpose of travelling through the 
United States : but after making a stay of four or five days 
at the hotel, and one short excursion up the Fludson, they 
proceeded to England by the first packet which sailed. 
The Americans, 1 had frequent occasion to observe, are 
an easily excited people, and even destitute of that moral 
courage which is so requisite in times of personal or na- 
tional calamity. The panic and excitement upon this 
occasion were much augmented by the daily prints, which 
not content with merely taking notice of cases in round 
numbers, mentioned every alarming incident they could 
possibly collect; and even the names, the streets, the num- 
ber of the house, and the medical men who attended the 
patients, were duly inserted. As an instance of the extra- 
ordifiary dread entertained of the malady, a respectable 
printer in Philadelphia committed suicide by taking a 
quantity of laudanum : and said to those around him, who 
were attempting to save his life, that all efforts would b^* 
fruitless, and, if the physicians prepared an antidote, they 
could not make him take it;, that "he had heard the 
cholera was in Quebec, and, being thoroughly convinced 
that it would spread over the whole continent of Ame- 
rica, he had come to the determination of not suffering 
an attack of it himself, or seeing his wife and children 



A subaltern's furlough. Hi" 

die before him." Unfortunately, too, a great schism pre- 
vailed amongst the medical men, who were either jealous 
of each other's practice, or disagreed in the views they 
look of the disease. The board of health refused to pub- 
lish the reports of cases se . in by an eminent practitioner 
in the city, who had proceeded to Gluebec upon the first 
appearance of the cholera there, to ascertain the nature of 
it. This so incensed him that he withdrew his name 
from amongst the members composing the board ; and, 
others refusing to make any returns, an order was issued 
by those in power that any medical man who did not 
make a return of cases should be fined forty dollars. It 
was hoped, too, that the fear of this penalty would act 
as a check upon the quack doctors (or steam doctors, as 
the Americans call them,) who flocked into the city from 
all quarters, and put in practice the system from which 
the}:^ derive their name — hot-baths and cayenne pepper 
for every complaint, from a cold and sore throat to the 
yellow-fever. The same difference of opinion pervaded 
even the acts of Congress, who, ever jealous of the Pre- 
sident's authority, could not come to any decision about 
appointing a day of fast and humiliation. The motion 
had been made to apply to the President to order a day ; 
but it was rejected, some members contending that the Pre- 
sident had no right to order a fast, and that the observance 
of one was optional with every one. The President, in an- 
swer to an application from the Committee of the General 
Synod in New- York, for the appointment of a general 
fast, said, " I am constrained to decline the designation of 
any period or mode as proper for the public manifesta- 
tion of this reliance. I could not do otherwise without 
transcending the limits prescribed by the constitution for 
the President, nor without feeling that I might in some 
degree disturb the security which religion now enjoys in 
this country, in its complete separation from the political 
concerns of the general government. 

" It is the province of the pulpits, and the state tribunals, 
to recommend the time and mode by which the people 
may best attest their reliance on the protecting arm of 
the Almighty in times of great distress." 

The committee then applied to the Governor of the 

TOL. L N, 



146 A SUBALTERN^S FURLO0GH. 

State, who replied, * * * * " As fasting, humilia- 
tion, and prayer, are religious rites, so the recommenda- 
tion of a day for that purpose is an appeal to the religious 
sentiments of the community, and should, in my opinion, 
proceed from an authority which has its influence over 

the consciences of men, rather than their civil obligations. 

* # * # # * 

" I cannot here refrain from the remark, and I hope it 
will be received with indulgence, that the more scrupu- 
lously the religious authorities of the land follow the indi- 
cations of the public will, as pointed out in her constitu- 
tions, the more likely will they be to have that influence 
which is essential to crown with success their labours for 
the melioration of the condition of the human race." 

In many parts of the town the streets were watered 
with chloride of lime, in which, as an antidote, great faith 
was placed. Upon every subject, the Americans divide 
themselves into numerous parties, all differing in some 
trifle from each other; upon this occasion there were con- 
tagionists, non-contagionists, contingent contagionists, in- 
fectionists, and non-infectionists. There were many who 
asserted that the disease had its origin in the air, and 
that if a piece of raw meat were suspended at a certain 
height it would immediately become putrid. The experi- 
ment was actually tried at the mast-head of a ship in the 
harbour ; but, upon being brought down again in a few 
hours, the expectations of the most sanguine upon the 
subject were much disappointed in finding it in the same 
state as when put up. Others looked for the origin of 
the disease from the earth — the water — the comet; and it 
was even gravely asserted that the sun did not give its 
customary light. There were some who would not eat 
meat, and others who would not eat vegetables; some 
who would not drink any thing except water, and others 
who would only take "anti-cholera," as they termed bran- 
dy and port wine, the temperate soothed their fears, by 
crying out that only the dissolute and dirty would fall 
victims to it, and every post and tree in the city was la- 
belled with "Q,uit dram-drinking if you would not have 
the cholera." Those who had been in the habit of dram- 
drinking were at a loss how to proceed : one party told 



A subaltern's furlough. 147 

them they were certain to contract the disease, and an- 
other assured them that, if they were to abstain suddenly 
from their former habits, there would be no hope for 
them ; and, at all events, they would be bad subjects for 
it, when attacked. Some were for clothing warm; but an 
alarm was immediately given, by the opposite party, that 
excess in clothing was as injurious as excess in drinking. 
It was no wonder, then, that nearly 100,000 of the inha- 
bitants fled into the country, and many of them out of 
the reach of medical assistance fell victims to the disease, 
which thejr might probably have otherwise escaped 

The second ev^ening after my return, I walked dow^n to 
the battery: and although it was a most bewitching scene, 
as the sun set mildly and beautifully on the opposite 
side of the bay, and the bright moon rose majestically 
in the deep blue sky, still only a stranger or two w^ere 
seen, leaning over the rails at the edge of the pier. At 
last I caught the general infection of fear myself (though 
I had often been an eye-witness of the ravages of the 
•disease in other lands, without any such sensation,) and 
the reflection that if I were attacked by it I might be car- 
ried off to some public hospital, unknown, and almost 
uncared for, made me think it would be more prudent 
to remove to a healthier part of the country, Curiosity 
alone had brought me to New- York, and I had been 
there a fortnight already without any probability of being 
gratified with a sight of any thing interesting ; two 
gentlemen, whose acquaintance I was just making, were 
suddenly carried off by the disease, and my only remain- 
ing friend had sailed for England: I therefore determin- 
ed to continue my tour, and, if possible, return at a busier 
and gayer time. 



148 A subajltern's furlough. 



CHAPTER X. 

The flying rumours gathered as they roli'd, 
Scarce any tale was sooner heard than toldj 
And all who told it added something new, 
* And all who heard it made enlargements too ; 

In ev'ry ear it spread, on ev'ry tongue it grew. 
Thus flying east and west, and north and soutii, 
News travelled with increase from mouth to mouth. 

Pope. 

Satire lashes vice into reformation. 

Dryden. 

Mrs. Trollope states, in her " Domestic Manners of 
the Americans," that much angry feeling was excited 
throughout the United States by the appearance of Cap- 
tain Hall's travels in that country; probably but little 
imagining that she herself as an authoress should give 
such umbrage to the republicans, and that the gallant 
Captain's works should sink into comparative insignifi- 
cance before her lashing pen. It was during my resi- 
dence in New- York that her first publication was re- 
printed, and the commotion it created amongst the good 
citizens is truly inconceivable. The Tariff and Bank 
Bill were alike forgotten, and the tug of war was hard, 
whether the " Don.cstic Manners," or the cholera, which 
burst upon them simultaneously, should be the more en- 
grossing topic of conversation. At every corner of the street, 
at the door of every petty retailer of information for the 
people, a large placard met the eye with, " For sale here, 
with plates, Domestic Manners of the Americans, by Mrs. 
Trollope." At every table d'h6te, on board of every 
steam-boat, in every stage-coach, and in all societies, the 
first question was, " Have you read Mrs. Trollope?" And 
I one half of the people would be seen with r« red or blue 
half-bound volume in their hand, which you might vouch 
for being the odious work ; and the more it was abused 
the more rapidly did the printers issue new editions. I. 
never could ascertain the reason why the American edition 
appeared without the name of its publisher ; whether it 



A subaltern's furlough. 149 

arose from the fear of subjecting himself to serious con- 
sequences for printing- a work which spoke so unfavour- 
ably of his country, or that he was ashamed of publicly 
acknowledging the preface, in which he laboured to prove 
that Mrs. Trollope and Captain "AH" (as he was face- 
tiously pleased to write the name, as being the true Eng- 
lish pronunciation) were one and the same person,— an 
opinion which soon gained ground, and I was assured by 
many intelligent people that there was not the slightest 
doubt but "that Captain Hall had written every word of 
it; Mrs. Trollope might probably have furnished notes 
for it, but certainly nothing more; no one who had read 
the two works, and observed the great similarity of ex- 
pression and opinions, could for a moment doubt the 
author's identity, and every one was well aware that he 
had been sent out by the Quarterly Review." Never were 
two poor authors so abused: every newspaper for two 
months teemed with some violent remarks, and persona- 
lities, which were substituted for refutations, thus apparent- 
ly verifying the justice of the saying, that 

"Blunt truths more mischief than nice falsehoods do;" 

nor was this kind of criticism confined merely to editors 
of daily newspapers ; but even people who had some pre- 
tensions to literary talent fell into the same error. Mr, 
Dunlap, in his late history of the American stage, confi- 
dently states that Captain Hall was the author of the work 
in question; and Mr. Paulding, who ranks high as an 
author amongst his countrymen, in his late novel of "West- 
ward Ho ! " exerts himself, as much, as possible, to 
hold up Captain Hall to the ridicule of the Americans, 
merely because he differs in opinion from them; forget- 
ting that 

" 'Tis with our judgments as our watches, none 
Go just alike, yet each believes his own." 

Though the extract I allude to is long, yet I transcribe 
it, as servine two purposes ; one to show the soreness of 

N* 



l«^^ A subaltern's furlough. 

the Americans, and the other to give a specimen of the 
Western provincialisms. 

" Well, then, Captain, if he won't sing, suppose you tell 
us another story," quoth Cherub Spooney. 

" Ay, do now. Captain ; tell us the story of the strange 
cretur you picked up going down the river," said an- 
other. 

" Ah ! now do, Massa Cappin Sam," quoth Biackey. 

" Well, I'll tell you how it was. We had hauled in 
the Broad-horn close ashore to wood; wind was up stream, 
so we couldn't make much headway any how. Bill told 
the nigger to cook a few steaks off Clumsy — that was 
what we called the bear I shot the day before. Well, while 
we were a — wooding — " 

"That story's as long as the Mississippi," said one. 

" Shut pan, and sing dumb, or I'll throw you into the 
drink," exclaimed Spooney. 

"Why, I heaid that story before," 

" Well, supposing you did, I didn't, go on Cap- 
tain." 

'*Well, as I was saying, Spoon, the nigger — " 

" I tink he made call 'um gemman of colour," mutter- 
ed Biackey. 

" The nigger went to cook some bear while we were 
wooding, so that we might have something to go upon. 
When we came back, what kind of a varment do you 
think we started in the cane-brake?" 

" I reckon an alligator," said Biackey. 

" Hold your tongue, you beauty, or you shall smell 
brimstone through a nail hole," cried Spooney; "go 
a-head, go a-head. Captain." 

" Well, as I was saying, we started the drollest varment, 
perhaps, you ever did see. Its face was covered with hair, 
like a bull buffalo, all but a little place for his eyes to see 
tlirough. It looked mighty skeery, as though it thought 
jtself a gone-sucker, and calculated we were going to eat 
it, before we killed it ; but we carried it aboard the Broad- 
horn, and took compassion on the poor thing. I slapped 
it on the back, and told it to stand on its hind legs, and I 
wish I may run on a sawyer if it didn't turn out to be a 
live dandy." 

''Had it a tail?" 



A subaltern's furlough. 151 

" I'll wool lightning out of you, Bill, if you interrupt 
me." 

" That's actionable in New-Orleans." 

" Ha, ha, whoop! wake snakes — go a-head, go a-head, 
and don't be so rantankerous " shouted the audience. 
"I swear, if he once gets my tail up, he'll find I'm from 
the forks of the roaring river, and a bit of a screamer," 
said Captain Hugg. 

"Well, go a-head — go a-head, — tell us about the dandy, 
— ha ! ha ! ha ! I should like to have seen it when it 
stood on its hind legs — what did it say ?" 

" Why, I asked what they called such queer things 
where it came from, and it said Basil ; and that the Cap- 
tain of the steam-boat had put it ashore, because it insisted 
on goinor into the ladies' cabin. — Well, some of us called 
It summer savory, some catnip, some sweet Basil, and we 
had high fun with the cretur, and laughed till we were 
tired. And then we set him on a barrel forked end 
douTiwards." 

" Yough ! yough ! j^ough !" ejaculated Blackey, burst- 
ing into one of his indescribable laughs. 

*' No laughing in the ranks there — throw that nigger 
overboard, if he laughs before I come to the right place, 
and then you may all begin. Well, then, I began to ask 
him all about himself, and he told me he was a great tra- 
veller, and that he had been so far north that the north- 
star was south of him ; and then he asked me if I knew 
any thing of navigation, and the use of the globes. " To 
be sure I do," said I, " aint they made for people to live 
in ?" Then he inquired if I ever heard of Herschel, or 
Hisshel, I forgot which, and I told him I knew him as 
well as a squirrel knows a hickory-nut from an acorn." 

" He's dead," said the queer cretur. 

" No, no," says I, " that v/on't do, there's no mistake 
in Shavetail, you may swear. I saw a pedlar with some 
splendid sausages made of red flannel, and turnips, go by 
our house, and I changed with him some wooden bacon 
hams. He comes from Litchfield, where Herschel lived, 
and did'nt say a word about it. Here he made a note in 
his book, and I begun to smoke him for one of those 
fellows that drive a sort of a trade of making books 



152 A subaltern's furlough. 

about old Kentuck and the western country : so I thought 
I'd set him barking up the wrong tree a little, and I told 
him some stories that were enough to set the Mississippi 
a-fire ; but he put them all down in his book. One of 
my men was listening, and he sung out, " Well, Sam, 
you do take the rag off the bush, that's sartin ;" and i 
was fearful dandy would find out I was smoking him, 
so I jumped up, and told Tom a short horse was soon 
curried, and I'd knock him into a cocked hat if he said 
another word, and that broke up the conversation. 

" Next morning we stopped to wood a little below 
New Madrid, and the dandy who seemed one of the 
curiousest creturs you ever saw, and was poking his nose 
every where, like a dog smelling out a trail, went with 
me a little way into a cane-brake, where we met a woman 
living under a board-shed, with four or five children. 
Dandy asked her if she was all alone ; she said her 
husband had gone up to Yellow Banks to look for better 
land. Then he wanted to know what she had to eat, 
and she said, nothing but sweet pumpkins. " What, no 
meat?" said he. " No, nothing but sweet pumpkins." 
" Well," said dand}^, " I never saw any thing half so bad 
as this in the old countries," and then he put his hand 
m his pocket, and gave her a pickatlon. " Thank you," 
said she, " as I am a living woman, I 've tasted no meat 
ibr the last fortniofht — nothing^ but venison and wild 
turkey." The d — 1 you ha'int," said Dandy ; and want- 
ed to get the pickatlon back again. 

" What a wild-goose of a fellow, not to know that 
nothing is called meat in these parts but salt-pork and 
beef. He 's a pretty hand to write books of travels," said 
Spooney. 

" I wish I may be forced to pass the old sycamore root 
up stream twice a day, if I'd give the Mississippi navi- 
gator for a whole raft of such creturs." 

" But what did you do with him at last, Captain?" 
said another. 

" Why, I got tired of making fun of the ring-tail 
roarer, and happening to meet the steam-boat, Daniel 
Boone, Captain Lansdale, coming down stream, just as 



A subaltern's furlough. 153 

site had smashed a hroad horn, and the owner was sitting 
on the top of it, singing, 

" Hail Columbia, happy land; 
If I a'int ruin'd I'll be ." 

I persuaded the Captain to let the Dandy come on board 
again, on his promising to keep out of the ladies' cabin — 
So we shook hands; and " I wish I might be smash'd 
too if I wouldn't sooner hunt such a raccoon than the 
fattest buck that ever broke bread in old Kentuck." 

This is but a mild specimen of the bitter feeling which 
was exhibited against the gallant Captain ; and I sincerely 
give it as my opinion that neither he nor Mrs. Trollope 
could with safety make their personal appearance again 
in the United States. Never was there so extremely sen- 
sitive a person as brother Jonathan. He lashes himself 
into a violent rage, if any one doubts that his own dear 
land is not the abode of all that is estimable. 3Iere ap- 
proval will not do for him ; it must be the most unquali- 
tied approbation; and he thinks he is in duty bound to 
consider any national reflection a personal insult, and to 
resent it accordingl}^ Thus it has ever been in his wars 
with England, which were carried on with greater ani- 
mosity than any of our continental struggles. Thus, 
also (to descend to minor affairs,) can alone be explained 
their conduct towards Kean, Anderson, and others, where 
the whole nation resented what was onljra private quarrel. 

Although I should not wish to identify myself vnth 
Mrs. TroUope's opinions and sentiments, inasmuch as 
she evidently is a writer, who, in drawing a tolerable 
likeness, has given a broad caricature of the Americans, 
and most unjustly impressed those who have not visited 
the United States with the imagination that no gentlemen 
are to be met with there, yet I must think her " Domes- 
tic Manners" will do good amongst a certain class of 
people. The effects had even begun to show themselves 
before I quitted the country ; and I record the following 
anecdote, in order that, if these poor pages ever meet the 
eye of the witty and much abused authoress, she may 
congratulate herself on having already worked a partial 



154 A subaltern's furlough. 

reform. When Miss Kemble made her first appearance 
at the Park Theatre, in New- York, the house was 
crowded to excess : and a gentleman in the boxes, turn- 
ing round between the acts of the play to speak to some 
one who sat in the bench behind him, displayed rather 
more of his back to the pit than was thought quite ortho- 
dox. This was no sooner observed than a low murmur 
arose amongst the insulted part of the audience, which 
presently burst forth into loud cries of " Trollope !" 
" Trollope!" "turn him out," "throw him over," &c., 
and continued for several minutes, accompanied by the 
most discordant noises, until the offending person assum- 
ed a less objectionable position. I will bear witness that I 
have frequently seen as much want of decorum in our 
theatres as I ever did in the American ; and think that 
our bar-rooms and ordinaries in country inns, and pas- 
sengers on a stage-coach, might with as much justice be 
taken as samples by which a foreigner might form his 
estimate of English gentlemen as the inmates of steam- 
vessels, canal-boats, and lodging-houses, should be of 
American gentlemen. That the Americans generally 
have many unpleasant customs, no sensible man in the 
country w411 deny ; and if ringing the changes upon to- 
bacco chewing and smoking, dram-drinking, and spitting, 
perpetually in their ears, will be of any service towards 
working a reformation, no English traveller will ever 
spare them ; and no man could have more strongly ex- 
pressed his abhorrence of such filthy habits than I did 
during my sojourn in the States. 

Though the long extract I have given from Mr. Pauld- 
ing's work should be considered as a good specimen of 
western provincialisms, yet not an American, let him be 
Yankee or Southerner, from the banks of the Hudson or 
the Mississippi, but flatters himself that he speaks more 
correct English than we illiterate sons of the mother isle. 
If you ask a Cana iian in what part of the globe the purest 
French is spoken, he will reply, " upon the shores of the 
St. Lawrence," and assign as a reason for such being 
the case that a patois was introduced in the old country 
when the canaille gained the ascendency during the Re- 
volution of 1792; and that the correct language failing, 



A subaltern's furlough. 155 

with the princes and nobles, Canada alone, which has not 
been subject to any such convulsions, retains the language 
in its original purity. Incredible as it may appear, I was 
frequently told by casual acquaintance in the States, 
" Well, I should have imagined you to be an American, 
you have not got the English brogue, and aspirate the 
letter h, when speaking." And once I was actually told, 
by a feliow-passenger in the stage coach from Alexandria 
to Winchester, " Really I should never have thought 
you to be from the old country, you pronounce your 
words so well, and have not got the turn-up nose /" This 
same "turn-up nose," somewhat approaching to the pug, 
is, I find, one of the characteristic marks of an English- 
man in American eyes : and they apply the term " Cock- 
ney" as indiscriminately to us as we do that of" Yankee" 
to them. Whatever maybe their opinion of the manner 
in which we natives of Great Britain speak the mothei- 
tongue, I can affirm that the nasal twang, which Ame- 
ricans, of every class, possess in some degree, is very 
grating and disagreeable to the ears of an Englishman." 



156 A subaltern's FURLOTJGfH. 



CHAPTER XL 



Lady Charlotte. 1 want none of your explanations — (scornfully.) 

Garrick. 

Taking advantage of a bright morning sun, so that i 
might enjoy a view of surrounding objects, I embarked 
on board the Superior steam-vessel, on East River, for 
New-Haven in Connecticut, I departed from New- York 
rather sooner than even the unhealthy state of the place 
would have urged, being fearful that if I remained there 
many days longer an opportunity would not occur of 
leaving the city, as many steam-vessels had discontinued 
making their usual trips, from the long quarantine imposed 
upon them in some ports, and from the decrease in the 
number of passengers. The most conspicuous objects on 
the banks of the East River are the two large stone build- 
ings of the Almshouse at Bellevue, which contain from 
1200 to 1500 inmates. Amongst them, the cholera was 
making most frightful ravages principally owing to the 
impaired constitution of the patients ; and at this time 
upwards of thirty were dying daily. 

A short distance further a penitentiary is erecting upon 
an island, for the confinement of prisoners under sentence 
of two years or a less period. It is a very narrow, long, 
tasteless piece of architecture, with two wings so closely 
studded with innumerable windows (no broader than the 
loop-holes of an old castle) as to give it a most ungraceful 
appearance. Its future occupants were busily employed in 
its construction; and were closely watched by an overseer, 
who was pacing to and fro, upon a lofty wooden platform, 
lest any one should attempt to escape into the bushes. 
Opposite to the upper end of the island are some hand- 
some country residences on the mainland ; and also the 
entrance to Hell-Gate, or, as in this age of refinement it 
is called, Hurl-Gate. It being ebb-tide, the water was 
rushing with great violence over the Hog's Back and 
Gridiron, and boiling and tossing about in a furious trou- 
ble in the Pot and Frying Pan. These eddies have been 
most aptly named, and were to be distinguishad at a great 



A StJBALTERN's FURLOUGH, l$l 

distance; they act in part as a guard against the entrance 
of vessels into the harbour, and batteries Avere also erect- 
ed some few years since on the point of land which form 
the gate to make the pass more secure. The depth of 
water is ample, as two French ships of war, when 
blockaded by the British off New- York, in 1810, made 
their escape through the gate into the sound. It is a 
dangerous and intricate navigation for sailing crafi at 
ali times of tide, and part of a small vessel was visible 
above water when we ran through, and was lying on some 
huge masses of rock in the centre of the gate. It is in 
contemplation to excavate a canal across the peninsula, 
from Pot to Hallet's Cove, of sufficient depth to admit 
line-of-battle ships ; the estimated expense being about 
150,000 dollars for a canal of 28 feet in depth and 137 
in breadth at the top. 

After running thirty miles amongst innumerablte is- 
lands, and keeping along the continental shore, the sound 
became so broad that Long-Island was but indistinctly 
seen. Having touched at several small towns, we arrived 
at New-Haven, eighty-six miles from New- York, in six 
hours and a half The tow^n having some high bluff rocks 
rising at the back of it, is situated at the head of a bay of 
considerable extent, which affords an excellent shelter 
from the sea, and a small battery, dignified with the appella- 
tion of Fort Hale, occupies a point about two miles up the 
bay. When within half a mile of the pier, the steamer 
w^as boarded by a health officer who expressed himself 
•satisfied with the Captain's word that there were no cho- 
lera cases on board ; so, being permitted to land, I pro- 
ceeded to an hotel in a large square called the Green, 
about three-quarters of a mile in circumference. It has 
three churches in a line near the centre of it, and at a 
short distance in another line a state-house (which is 
almost a fac-simile of the Philadelphian bank and a Me- 
thodist chapel ; while the opposite side of the square is 
occupied by the large brick buildings of the Yale College. 
The square as also the streets of the town (which contains 
i 1,000 inhabitants) are planted with fine elm trees, which 
keep them, however, exceedingly wet and dirty. The col- 
lege has four houses for the lodging of the students, two 

YOL, 1. — 0. 



158 A subaltern's furlough. 

chapels, and a Lycjeum (in which are the recitation rooms) 
and possesses an excellent library. It was commenced 
in 1700, by the recommendation of eleven of the principal 
ministers of neighbouring towns, who had been appointed 
to adopt such measures as they should deem fit for the 
regulation of a college. Its first commencement was held 
at Saybrook in 1702, and removed to New-Haven in 1717. 
The Hon. Elihu Yale, Governor of the East India Com- 
pany, being its principal benefactor, his name was bestow* 
ed upon it. It is considered one of the best colleges in the 
States, and from four to five hundred young men study 
at it. 

The Green was used as a burial-ground from the settle- 
ment of the town in 1638 until the year 1796, when a 
c-emetery was marked out in the north-western suburbs, 
and the grave stones were removed there in 1821. It con- 
tains about twelve acres of ground, and is planted thickly 
with poplarsandweeping willows, which well accord with 
the numerous obelisks and columns of black and white 
marble that distinguish the graves. 

I never felt the inconvenience of the small bed-rooms in 
American hotels so much as at the one in New-Haven ; 
mine was only 10 feet by 7, and the door of the adjoining 
room closed upon the same post as that of mine. I was 
sitting studying the travellers' map, in rather a dishabille, 
having returned heated from a long walk, when I heard 
a voice at my door say, "Charles, Charles, get up !" while 
a person in the next room muttered something, in a half- 
tfaking, half-sleeping tone of voice. The command was 
ag-ain repeated, with, " May I come in ?" and a knock 
at my door. " Yes!" said the voice in the next room. 
My door was now opened half an inch, while I sat in 
amazement, wondering what would next appear. " Are 
you asleep ?" said the voice : " No!" answered the next- 
room occupant. At this moment my door flew open, and 
discovered three ladies standing at the entrance. A tall 
elderly one, the mother of the other two, surveyed me 
with a most haughty frown (which, though not at all im- 
proving the natural beauty of her dark countenance, would 
have been invaluable to a tragedy queen,) qs I muttered 
something about "a miatake" After darting another 



A subaltern's forloook. 150 

g-lance, which spoke volumes, at me, she flung the door 

violently to again, saying, "you are not Mr. , so why 

(hd you speak, Sir?" The dear was just closed, when I 
heard the next-room voice again , and, after a few ques- 
tions, the lady, discovering her mistake, said that " Mr. 

wished to show them the beauties of New-Haven," 

and descended the stairs again most majestically, one of 
the younger voices saying, " You made a mistake mam- 
ma;" the answer of the indignant lady I could not dis- 
tinctly overhear, but was right glad to get rid of her up- 
on any terms. 

The morning after my arrival, I walked out to the high 
bluff rocks behind the town, for the purpose of visiting the 
eave in which the regicide judges, — Whalley and Goffe, 
— secreted themselves for some years, previous to 1664, 
having escaped from England at the Restoration, when 
several ofthejudL^es upon the trial of Charles I. were tried 
and executed. They eluded the search of the colonists, 
and their place of refuge would probably have remained 
unknown but for the chance discovery of it by some 
Indians ; when, finding themselves no longer in safety, 
they removed to a small village sixty miles higher up the 
Connecticut ri ver, and lived in the cellar of a clergyman's 
house for upwards of fifteen years, where the former died 
and was buried: Colonel Dixwell, another of the judges, 
had joined them in their last place of concealment, shortly 
after their arrival at it. After vainly ascending the hill 
three times successively in search of the cave, with di- 
rections from those who either knew or pretended to 
know its locality, I was obliged at last to give it up. It 
was described to me as being formed by two rocks which 
had fallen together, upon one of which was the following 
}nscription : 

" Opposition to tyrants is obedience to God." 

Between two and three miles from the town, there is a 
musket manufactory, established by Mr. Eli Whitney, 
a government contractor, on the banks of a small stream 
which empties itself into the Dragon, a fine winding river 
with low banks and rich salt meadows on its margin, and 



A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 

rather nearer the town is a pretty mansion, the residence 
of Mr. Hillhouse. The frame-houses on the outskirts of 
New-Haven are distinguished for neatness, and on the 
whole, it may be considered one of the handsomest towns 
hi the States. 

Leaving New-Haven in one of four coaches, filled with 
passengers who had made their escape from New- York, 
we travelled rapidly over a tolerably good road to the 
pretty little town of Meriden, which has several block-tin 
manufactories in its vicinity; and thence to Berlin, a long 
straggling town, seven miles farther : we w^ere but fifty 
minutes — quite an era in American driving. It w^as very 
(Evident, from the coachman's nonchalance, that we were 
now in the genuine Yankee country. One of the gentle- 
men, an inside passenger, told him to mount his box and 
move on, as he was loitering at a tavern door, smoking a 
eigar, and conversing quietlj^ with a brother whip, but was 
answered with an air of the most perfect indifference, as 
follows : — " Don't be in such a hurry ; we take it easy in 
this part of the world, I guess ; and, I declare, it ain't four 
o'clock yet — that's a fac." But I acquit the man of inten- 
tional rudeness, as I sat on the box with him, and found 
him both civil and obliging, pointing out every object 
oi interest as we went along ; and, during my travels 
aftervt-'ards of many hundreds of miles by the coaches, 
I never found them otherwise. Upon first landing in 
the country, such roughness of manner is mistaken for 
insolence. 

In England we are apt to designate ail Americans as 
Yankc _s, whether they are born under the burning sun of 
Louisiana, or frozen up five months in the year on the 
shores of the Lake of the Woods, The name, correctly 
speaking, is applicable only to the native of the New- 
England States, a very small portion rS the Union. The 
southern States call all their countrymen who reside porth 
of the Potomac Yankees. Th^ middle otaies, including 
New- York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, &c., push the odious 
appellation off their shoulders on to their more northern 
brethren, the natives of that part of the country lying to 
the east of the river Hudson; while they, not being able 
to put it upon the New-Brunswickers, who have their 



k subaltern's furlough. 161 

own proper by-name, make a virtue of necessity, and wear 
the title with a good grace, frequently prefacing the con- 
versation with " We Yankees are a curious 'quisicive 
set, ain't we?" And (that being granted) make a dead 
point at all your secrets, Knickerbocker tells us that 
"the name of Yankies, which in the Mais-Tchusaeg 
(or Massac husett langua2;e) signifies silent men^'' was a 
waggish appellation btstowed by the aborigines of the 
land upon the first settlers, who kept up such a joyful 
«tiamour, for the space of one w^hole year after their arri^'^l 
m America, *' that they frightened every bird and beast out 
of the neighbourhood, and so completely dumb-founded 
certain fish, which abound on their coavSt, that they have 
been called dumb fish ever since." Other authorities say, 
it is a corruption of the word " English." The Yankees 
differ much in personal appearance and disposition from 
the southerners : the latter, like their climate, are fiery, 
warm-hearted, and generous, and display a greater re- 
spect for the customs of the mother country than the 
former, who are cool speculators, intent upon gain alone. 
But little good-will exists between these two portions 
of the Union, their interests in mercantile matters so 
directly clashing, and what (like the Tariff) is a safeguard 
to the manufactures of the north is little better than ruin 
to the south. I thought that the southerner had generally 
a fresher colour, and was of a stouter habit of body, than 
the Yankee, who is well described in the words of his 
own national Melody : — 

" A Yankee boy is trim gind tall, 
And never over fat, sir, 



He's always out on training-day, 

Commencement, or election ; 
At truck and trade lie knows the way 

Of thriving to perfection. 

Yankee doodle dandy," &c 

Having gained an eminence four miles from Hartford, 
we had a magnificent view of the town with its numerous 
domes, the passing sails upon the Connecticut River, and 
the light yellow corn-fields covering the whole extent of 

o* 



162 A subaltern's furlough. 

the valley toa range of forest-crowned hills, twenty miieB 
distant. Passing the Insane Asylum, a plain but neal 
budding on the outskirts of the town, we drove up to the 
City Hotel, situated in a small square opposite the State 
House, and kept by a most attentive landlord. 

I had but just stepped off the coach, and seen my bag- 
gage fairly housed, when, hearing drums at a distance, 1 
walked to the corner of the street, and saw the students 
of the college, between sixty and seventy in number, 
equipped as archers, with light green frocks, white trow- 
sers, green bonnets, and ostrich feathers, marching down 
it; their officers distinguished by wearing a sword and 
sash. The whole body had a very neat and striking ap- 
pearance ; each archer carried a long bow in his hand, and 
a quiver of arrows at his back. I could have almost fan- 
cied myself in the Forest of Arden, or Merry Sher- 
wood, in, tead of in one of the largest cities in the Unit- 
ed States, where the very last sight I should have ex- 
pected would have been a company of archers in Lin- 
coln Green. 

During the night an alarm of fire was given, which im- 
mediately set every bell in church and chapel ringing, 
and a night-capped head was protruded from every Avindow 
in the street, vociferating "Fire! Fire!" so loudly that 
I at first concez'ved it must be in the hotel, and, but half- 
awake, sprang out of bed in double-quick time, whereas 
it was quite at the other extremity of the town. The 
eng'ines rolled and thundered over the rough pavement 
ifj quick succession, and, instead of being drawn by hor- 
ses, men and boys who volunteered there services for the 
msre sake, I believe, of increasing the uproar, were yok- 
ed to them : while the superintendants, who continued 
shouting through their long tin trumpets to urge them 
on., produced a most hideous noise, a "clangor tubarum," 
v^/-hich would have broken the charm of the Seven Sleep- 
ers themselves, or aroused the giants from any en- 
chanted CLotle in Christendom. Thanks, however, to 
my scaling the hills at New-Haven, I was soon again in 
a 80und slumber. 

The following day being Sunday, I attended service at 
the Protestant Episcopal Church, which was the finest 



A subaltern's furlough. 163 

specimen of solid architecture I had seen. Being built 
of a dark coloured stone in imitation of the Gothic style, 
it already possessed a venerable and antique air, which 
the brick churches and white painted wooden towers will 
not acquire in less than a century. The tower was not 
finished, but, when carried to the height intended it will 
become a great ornament to the town, and a monument 
of the spirit of the congregation, who erected it entirely by- 
private subscription. Most of the American churches have 
their towers at the eastern end, which is a great detrac- 
tion to their interior beauty, from not having the large, 
light, chancel window, which is found in all English re- 
gions edifices ; and none of them possesses that air of so- 
lidity without, or solemn grandeur within, which distin- 
guishes the ecclesiastical buildings of the old world The 
inhabitants of Hartford appear strictly attentive to their 
religious observances. There are nine or ten churches 
to 8500 inhabitants ; and, on walking out in the afternoon, 
there was literally not one person to be seen in the streets. 
Feeling rather ashamed at being apparently the only ab- 
sentee from divine service, I proceeded a short distance 
out of the town to the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, which was 
the first establishment of the kind in the States, and is 
partly conducted by a gentleman who has the misfortune 
to be afflicted himself in the same manner. The building 
is a very extensive one, situated on an eminence overlook- 
ing the town, and generally contains from sixty to seven- 
ty inmates. It was a lovely afternoon, and as I sat upon 
the grass, gazing upon the town and river beneath, whence 
neither the hum of voices nor the sound of anjr one 
stirring arose, and not a living being was even to be seen 
crossing the long straight streets, or standing at a door 
or window, I thought I had never before seen a day so 
truly set apart as a day of rest, nor one, I would believe, 
so strictly kept. 

In October, 1687, Sir Edmund Andross, Governor of 
the New-England States (who committed so many arbi- 
trary acts during his administration,) proceeded to Hart- 
ford with a detachment of troops, and, entering the House 
of Assembly when in Session, demanded the Charter of 
Connecticut, declaring the Colonial Government to be 



164 A. stjualtern's furlough. 

deposed ^ the Assembly protracted the debates till e^en^ • 
ing, when the Charter was laid upon the table, and, ai 
;i preconcerted signal, the lights being extinguished, a 
Captain Wadsworth, seizing the Charter, sprung out of 
the window, and, under cover of the dark night, secreted 
it in the hollow of an oak, where it lay concealed for 
several years, until the accession of William, Prince of 
Orange, to the throne of Great Britain, when the Colo- 
msis resumed their Charter, which continued in force until 
1818, when they adopted a new constitution The old 
House of Assembly is still pointed out in rear of the Epis- 
(to'pai Church, and the Charter Oak retains its fine broad- 
spreading branches in front of the pleasure-grounds of 
Mr. Wyllis, at the southern outskirts of the town. The 
Connecticut River, on whose right bank the town stands, 
m about 300 yards broad, and connected with the large 
manufacturing village of East Hartford, one mile distant, 
by a bridge of seven arches, at which the sloop naviga- 
don ceases. The town would be a very handsome one, if 
a little more attention were paid to the cleanliness of the 
streets ; but, like most American towns, the dirt was six 
mches deep in them. Grass, rank docks, and other 
weeds, were growing on every side of the State House 
and one half the square, which was cut up in every di- 
rection, after a heav}^ shower of rain, by deep ruts and 
mnumerable water-courses. 



A suba-ltern's furlough. 165 



CHAPTER Sir. 

The Lacedemonians, forbidding all access of strangers into tlieir 
coasts, are, in that respect, deservedly blamed, as being enemies to 
that hospitality which, for common humanity's sake, all the nations 
oa earth should embrace. 

HOOKBR. 

Why must I Afric's sable children see 
Vended for slaves, though formed by Nature free, 
The nameless tortures cruel minds invent, 
Those to subject whom Nature equal meant? 

Sata©«. 

The whole course of his argumentation comes to nothing. 

Addisok. 

Proceeding in the coach from Hartford across the Con- 
necticut River, we passed over an undulating country to 
Mansfield, twenty-four miles distant, where a silk factory 
has been lately established. Much silk in grown in the 
ricinity of the village, the worms being kept in long sheds 
neatly arranged with shelves; and the mulberry -trees in. 
every direction were laden with the young guardians of 
the insects picking the leaves. From this place we en- 
tered a more hilly country, the face of which was densely 
covered with rocks and large stones. Where fields had 
been cleared, they were not more than three or four acres 
in extent, enclosed with stone fences, and for forty mile« 
the scenery much resembled many parts of the Peak of 
Derbyshire. Manufactories of various kinds were scat- 
tered thickly upon every stream ; and at the pretty little 
village of Scituate, a very extensive comb establishment, 
employing upwards of 100 workmen, had been lately- 
opened with every prospect of success. The State of 
Connecticut, though possessing a soil generally fertile, 
increases in the number of its inhabitants more slowly 
than any other in the union, thirty years only giving an 
addition of 38,000 people. This has arisen from so many 
of the young men migrating to the western regions, it 
being said that this state and the neighbouring one of 
Massachusetts send a greater proportion across the Alle- 



166 A subaltern's furlough. 

ghany Mountains than any other. After a tedious journey 
of fifteen hours, we arrived at Providence, pleasantly si- 
tuated on both sides of the river of the same name. On 
the eastern bank, it is built at the foot of a range of 
heights which run parallel with the stream, and upon the 
summit of them are the two large tasteless buildings of 
the Brown University. An Englishman's ideas of a col- 
lege are associated with cloisters, antique piles, and black- 
lettered volumes, and he would fix the seat of the genius 
of learning in some venerable pile of building which pos- 
sessed an air of grandeur. He could scarcely reconcile 
to himself a four-storied, red-painted, brick house as her 
abode; and would pardon her for taking alarm and fleeing 
from such a spot, where too her votaries are distinguished 
by no classical garb. I believe it is rather the case with 
this College, which does not bear so hiffh a name as that 
at Hartford or New-Haven, or Cambridge : but, of all the 
public buildings in America, I thought the colleges were 
the most tasteless. 

Steam-vessels and sloops navigate the river up to the 
bridges, which connect the two towns ; where the stream 
IS considerably contracted by the piers which have been 
tiirown out, but immediately above them it expands again 
iato a fine cove or bay of half a mile in width, with neat 
houses encircling it. The town containing betv/een 16,000 
and 17,000 inhabitants is a manufacturing place of consi- 
derable importance, and printed calicoes of very durable 
*olouis are struck off In the cotton works many very 
young children are employed ; but there were proposi- 
tions (as in England, by Mr. Sadler) to limit the number 
of working hours. At Pawtucket, four miles from the 
town on the Seekhonk River, there are twelve cotton, 
aad a variety of other mills. I walked there over the most 
passable road I had as yet seen, and saw many wagons 
laden with the raw material, which had been landed at 
Providence, on their way to the flourishing manufacto- 
ries. A large new Almshouse is situated upon the same 
range of hills as the College, built by the bequest of Mr. 
Dexter, a second Mr. Girard, who also bequeathed an 
extensive farm in the vicinity of the town for some other 
lihariiable purpose, and 3. fine plot of land to be used a« 



A si'baltern's FURL0T7<?H. 167 

a public parade ground. The town is the most exten- 
sive one in the State of Rhode-Island, and was first set- 
tled in 1636, by Roger Williams, a minister of Salem in 
Massachusetts, from which colony he had been banished 
on account of heretical opinions ; the person who was 
appointed to dispute with him before the general court 
being unable to convince him, he was sentenced to depart 
out of the jurisdiction within six weeks, and removed 
with his family to Mooshawsic, where he commenced a 
plantation, and called it Providence. Visiting England 
eight years afterwards, he obtained a free charter of in- 
corporation for Providence and Rhode-Island plantations, 
the latter having been commenced by William Codding- 
ton in 1638: and in 1663 a royal charter was granted 
to them by Charles II., which governs the state to this 
day, there being no written constitution as in the other 
States of the Union. The election for governor was tak- 
ing place during the time I was in the state, and the vot- 
iag was viva voce. The streets of the town are kept 
very clean, and the private dwellings are generally re- 
markably neat and elegant. The Arcade is also a hand- 
some structure, nearly 250 feet in length, with two fronts 
supported by six massive columns of granite, the shaft of 
each being a single block from 22 to 24 feet high. The 
interior consists of three tiers of shops, and the balco- 
nies are protected by a highly ornamented iron balus- 
trade. 

During my stay in Providence, a steamer arrived from 
New- York with passengers, who had not been allowed 
to land at Newport on the sea-coast, nor would the au- 
thorities permit them to enter Providence, unless they 
performed quarantine three days ; but gave them full per- 
mission at the same time to land elsew^here on the river's 
banks, on condition that they did not enter the towT^ in 
less than ten days, which if they set aside, they would be 
subject to a heavy penalty, whereas I had entered by land 
without any questions being asked, or any one appearing 
to trouble himself about the stage-coach passengers. 

The road from Providence to Bristol, at the head of 
the Naraganset Bay, is through a pleasing open country; 
but the crops every where appeared exceedingly pooT ; 



168 A subaltern's furlough, 

many indeed were scarcely worth gathering, and would 
apparently not yield more than six bushels per acre. The 
principal produce of the land in the immediate vicinity of 
Bristol was onions, which are shipped off in vast quanti- 
ties to New- York and other large ports in the States. 
Though the day I travelled between the towns was a fine 
hay-making day, yet the road was thronged with the 
farmers who were riding in to vote for the governor's 
election. It was one in which great interest was taken, 
there being three candidates for the office (one of whom 
was supported by the Anti-masons ;) and, it being requi- 
site that the successful one should have a majority of the 
whole number of votes, the two former elections had fail- 
ed, and I saw afterwards by the public prints that even 
the third, and, I beiieye the fourth, had also been unsuc- 
cessful in appointing one. Two miles below BristoL 
the passengers cross from the mainland to Rhode Island, 
over an arm of the bay three-quarters of a mile wide, in 
a ferry-boat, Avorked by four horses, who tread upon a 
horizontal wheel which is connected with the paddles, 
and impel the boat rapidly through the water. It was 
blowing rather fresh, and, there being a considerable 
swell ihe poor animals could with great difficulty keep 
on their legs. A short distance to the left of the Ferry 
is Mount Hope, a conical hill, with a small summer- 
house on the summit. It was there that King Philip, of 
the Naraganset tribe of Indians, a brave and intrepid 
warrior, fell, through the treachery of one of his own 
tribe, who guided Captain Church with a detachment of 
soldiers to his place of encampment in 1676. He was a 
most inveterate enemy oi the whites, and at one time se- 
riously endangered the very existence of these colonies. 
After his death, resistance, with any prospect of success, 
was perceived by the Indians to be hopeless, and the 
tribes on the shores of the Atlantic, one by one, submitted 
to the sway of the English. During the three years' war 
waged by Philip against ihe colonies, the flower of their 
strength had fallen, " Every eleventh family was house- 
less, and every eleventh soldier had sunk to his grave.'' 
The island is hilly, but all the ground is in a state of 
cultivation, and there are many large and excellent farms 



A subaltern's furlough, j!69 

scattered on the sides of the road. The one which had 
attained the highest state of cultivation was the properly 
of an English gentleman, who had been settled there only 
a few years, and had chosen a pretty retired spot, near 
the water's edge, for his house and gardens. Twelve 
miles from the Ferry, we arrived within sight of New- 
port, on the opposite side of the island; it is situated on 
the side of an eminence rising gradually from the head 
of a circular bay, v/hich affords a most capacious and ex- 
cellent harbour. Just as we arrived at some old-fashion- 
ed and dirty, but picturesque, windmills at the entrance to 
the town, a rope stretched across the road, with a sentry 
box at one end of it, and two citizens on guard with large 
pine sticks in their hands, brought us to a halt, and one 
of them began to cross-examine me (being the only pas- 
senger) with the air of a man 

" Drest in a little brief authority," 

as to where I came from ; and, upon hearing I had quit- 
ted New- York six days previously, he informed me that 
I could not enter Newport until I had been ten days ab- 
sent from that city. All my remonstrances that I had 
travelled through two entire States, and visited the prin- 
cipal towns in them since I had left it without any ob- 
jections being raised, were of no avail. He proffered me 
a Testament, saying he should have no objection to pass 
me in, if I would take an oath that I had been absent the 
length of time required ; which begging to decline doing. 
I had no alternative but to jump off the coach, which im- 
mediately proceeded into the town. The citizen sentry 
then produced a dirty scrap of paper on which he request- 
ed me to write my name and place of abode. I then sounded 
him, to discover whether he would allow me to walk 
through the to wn for the purpose of seeing it,promising that 
I would return again in three hours ; but the law of parole 
was quite unintelligible to him: he was obstinate and faith- 
ful to his trust, saying that, for his own part, "he did not 
fear me: he would as soon sleep with me as not; but the 
inhabitants — old and young, men and women, were tarna- 
tionly frightened." I thanked him for his good will, and 
began to reconnoitre the outskirts of the place over a stone 
VOL. I.— p. 



170 A subaltern's furlough, 

wail which flanked the road: but I suppose he imagined 
I had some intention of skulking in during the night; for 
3ie hinted slightly that there was a penalty of 100 dollars 
if any one was discovered entering the town privily. A 
crowd of men and hoys had begun to collect by this time 
and thinking it more than probable that they might hunt 
me down as they would a mad dog, I began to retraas 
my steps towards Bristol. After proceeding a mile upon 
the road, I turned across the fields to an old redoubt 
on the summit of a hill, which overlooked the bay, and 
sat down to admire the scene, the beauty of which might 
probably have been heightened from the circumstance 
of my not being allowed to take a closer survey of it. 
It had been a kind of promised land to me from the 
time I had quitted New- York ; and I had thought with 
pleasure of treading over the spots which had been 
the scenes of so much real as well as fictitious life. Th«e 
town appeared calculated for 6000 or 7000 inhabitants, 
and built round a circular bay, fronting the south-west, 
the houses rising in amphitheatrical form from tha 
water up to the summit of a range of heights, which 
skirted the bay at a quarter of a mile distance, while, on 
the various points and headlands, the lofty white columns 
of the light-houses reared themselves on high, and every 
commanding position was covered with dark frowning 
batteries and forts. The distant hilJs on the opposite side 
of the bay were dimmed with that light haze so peculiar 
to southerly winds in a warm climate, and, over and above 
them, might be seen the dark blue waves fading away in 
the distance, until both sea and sky were blended into 
one. The very redoubt upon which I had taken my 
station had been in turn possessed by contending armies ; 
and every foot of ground, as far as the eye could reach, 
had been severely contested. It was here that the British 
army, under General Pigot, might have been captured, 
but for the want of energy on the part of the French 
Admiral D'Estaing, who failed to co-operate in the attack 
on the American General Sullivan, in August, 1778. The 
same bay, too, had been the principal scene in the " Red 
Rover," one of Cooper's most interesting novels ; and now 
there were two vessels lying at anchor in it, which, 



FURLOUGH. 171 

though probably not possessing so much attraction as the 
Rover's ship and the Bristol merchantman, were by no 
means devoid of interest. One of them was a packet ship 
which had sailed from New- York only a few days pre- 
viously, bound for Europe, with a cargo of cotton, and 
many passengers; but had taken fire at sea, and had put 
into Newport for assistance. Arriving there after th© 
cargo had been on fire twelve hours, the inhabitants, Avith 
she same feeling of humanity which induced them to ar- 
rest travellers in their progress by land, would not allow 
a single passenger to come on shore, though there had 
not been any symptoms whatever of disease on board, 
but solely because they had not been ten days absent from 
New- York. They had, however, I must do them the 
justice to say, sufficient good-feeling still remaining to 
attempt extinguishing the fire, and, several engines being 
put on board lighters, six feet of water was thrown into 
the hold, the passengers being rescued from the suffo- 
cating heat by a brig which received them on board. A 
few days after, a steamer arrived from New- York for the 
purpose of towing the injured vessel back again to port ; 
and, her fuel beinsf exhausted, the crew were not allowed 
to land at Newport for a fresh supply. To this conduct, 
shat at New- Haven may serve as a set-off, where the gates 
were open to every one, and the ladies, with that charitable 
feeling for which American females are so distinguished, 
sent upwards of 1200 suits of clothes, in addition to a 
sum of money, for the use of the poor people at Mon- 
treal, in Lower Canada, upon the first breaking out of 
ihe disease m that city. 

It appears to be the intention of the American Govern- 
ment to render the harbour impregnable. Fort Adams, 
which is building upon a point of land, and connected 
with the town b}'' a narrow neck, was commenced five 
years since, and is likely to take three more to finish it, 
though 300 workmen are kept in employ : the annual 
expenditure upon it is nearly 100,000 dollars. Fort 
Woolcott is situated upon an island in the centre of the 
harbour, between Fort Adams and the town. There is 
another fort upon Rose Island, a short distance above the 
town, at the entrance to the Naraganset River ; while a 



172 A subaltern's furlough. 

fourth occupies a rocky point called the Dumplings, at 
the entrance to the bay, opposite to Fort Adams. The 
town is a fashionable watering place for the southern 
people, there being a most extensive and beautiful beach 
upon the opposite side of the neck to that upon which 
the town is built, and having the additional luxury of a 
fine sea breeze, which sets in during the summer months 
front about nine in tlie morning until sunset. 

The surrounding country is rather devoid of trees, a 
complaint which a traveller will not often have to make 
ill America, but so many are rising up round the pretty 
residences in the vicinity of the town, that in a few years 
it will be a most attractive place. After making one or 
two almost ineffectual attempts at taking a sketch of the 
town, against which I believe there was neither pain nor 
penalty attached, I again rose, having rested myself for 
two hours in gazing upon the scene, and, regaining the 
road, proceeded on my journe}'-, almost wicked enough to 
wish that the cholera might pay the inhabitants of New- 
port a visit, in return for their inhospitable conduct to 
travellers, and those who were seeking a place of refuge. 
After a hot walk of six miles, I arrived towards sunset at 
a small tavern on the road-side, where I could obtain a 
supper and a bed. 

The following morning, the 19th of July, I took the 
coach, and proceeded through the village of Portsmouth 
(where some coal mines had been worked the preceding 
year, but which were closed again, the produce being 
only a sort of anthracite, or worst description of coal,) to 
the N. E. extremity of the island. Keeping along a nar- 
row neck of land, which is overflowed at spring-tides, we 
crossed the Seaconnet to the mainland, by a pier 600 
yards in length, with a draw-bridge in the centre for the 
navigation of vessels into Mount Hope Bay. To guard 
the pass, a small block-house and breastwork have been 
thrown up at the Rhode-Island end of the pier ; and the 
heights above the small village, at the opposite side, are 
covered with old revolutionary redoubts. After ascend- 
ing these heights, a splendid view presents itself of 
Mount Hope, the numerous creeks and rivulets of Nara- 
ganset Bay, the town of Bristol, with many villages and 



A ST7BALTER^f'S FURLOUGH. 173 

white cottag-es interspersed amongst the trees, the country 
for a distance of fifty miles being varied with every kind 
of landscape. From the Seaconnet, we passed through 
a broken and uninteresting country, to the small town 
of Tiverton, where are manutactories of printed calicoes ; 
and a few miles farther to Fall River, another manufac- 
mring place of flourishing appearance. By the time we 
had arrived there, the heat of the sun was so oppressive 
that I sought shelter from its rays within the coach, and 
placed myself in the centre seat opposite to an elderly 
and a young Q,uaker, as the former was saying, " Young 
men can be convinced — their opinions are not yet formed 
— they have no prejudices, no conflicting interests to 
contend with. But old men like me are quite the reverse: 
they have formed their opinions, and will not change 
them, nor will they listen to the voice of reason, and I 
truly think there are not twelve old men in Fall 
River who rank on the anti-slavery side." In expecta- 
tion of hearing something interesting, I paid particular 
attention to the following conversation : — 

" More than that," said the young man. " Not more 
than twelve decided opponents to slavery," answered the 
other. There are plenty of thy lukewarm characters — 
men, who, if thou ask them the question direct, will say, 
' let it be done by degrees ; not while we live.' Now, 
go to a schoc 1 of children, say 100, and represent slavery 
to them in it ; true light ; they will all cry out, ' let it be 
abolished immediately ;' but thy old men say, ' Oh 1 it is 
as with a drrnkard. if he abstain from drinking too sud- 
denly, he wiii surely die : no I it must taper off by de- 
grees, as it were." 

" Well, and they are right in having their own opi- 
nions upon the subject," said a sharp-featured, dark, and 
aged, but fiery looking man, who sat next to me, " and 
not submitting to the sentiments of every itinerant 
preacher they hear." 

" But they know nothing of slavery ; now, I hare 
seen plenty of it." 

" Where ?" 

** Why, in Maryland, in Columbia, and in Virginia.*'^ 

*' But have you seen it in Carolina ?" 

p* 



?i74 A subaltern' S FURLOUGH. 

" No, I have not." 

" Then you know nothing" about it, nor have you any 
idea what slavery is." 

" What ! its miseries and horrors ?" 

" Miseries ! No! — its pleasures and its happiness." 

" Pleasures?" 

" Yes, pleasures ; they are much happier and more 
contented than you and I; they have not half the cares 
and anxieties we have. Have not we our iamilies to care 
and provide for 1 And these negroes, too, require and 
enjoy protection ; they are a poor helpless race of beings, 
who do not possess sufficient natural sense to take care 
of themselves; witness those who were manumitted after 

the revolution, and those again of Colonel 's, just 

abave here ; are they not wandering about, the greatest 
rogues and vagabonds in the State, without attempting 
to earn a livelihood ?" 

" Pho ! all men were created equal ; and they have the 
same claims to freedom as we have." 

'* No, Sir, as one star above differeth from another in 
splendour and magnitude," said a little shrill-toned old 
woman, with a face like a dried cabbage, in the rear, '• so 
do mankind on earth ; some men are created with abund- 
ance of talents, and others with none; there's for you, 
Sir!" 

" No, Madam, we all sprung from one man, we are all 
of the same family: no one was born subject to the other, 
and the first man doubtless was black." 

" Black !" reiterated half a dozen voices at once 

" Copper-coloured, thou shouldst say," said the young 
Q.uaker. 

" Heavens, black!" screamed the old lady; " hew is it, 
then, that they are so much changed?" 

" Why, Cuffee says, ' dat, ben Cain kill de brodder 
Abel, de massa cum — an he say, ' Cain, whar you a 
brodder Abel?' Cain say, ' I don't know, massa.' He 
cum gin an say, ' Cain, whar j^ou a brodder Abel ?' Cain 
say, ' I don't know, massa; but the nigger kno'ed ail de 
time. Massa now get mad, cum gin, peak mity sharp dis 
time, ' Cain, you nigger, whar you a brodder?' Cain now 
get fritin, and he turn all over pale as a sheet V but 1 



A subaltern's furlough. 175 

know not, madam, nor do I pretend to know, nor to bo 

able to explain the true reason." 

" They are poor helpless beings," said the old woman; 

*' they require protectors and have them." 

" A nigger is a nigger," said the dark man — - 

" Aye, a nigger's a nigger," said the Quaker, " and 

a hog *s a hog, but a man need not be black to be a 

nigger." 

" Fleecy locks and skms of jet 
Do not forfeit Nature's claim : 
Skins may differ " 

*' Oh, you may talk and preach," said the black man, 
*' but its of no use; ail your logic and philosophy are quite 
lost upon me ; my opinion is formed, and you know no- 
thing about the matter. I have lived at Charleston four- 
teen years, and had as many as eleven or twelve vessels on 
the coast of Africa, purchasing and selling slaves, so I 
ought to kno\v something about it." 

The Quaker was evidently struck dumb at this, and gave 
a kind of involuntary shudder; no one uttered a word, but 
all looked hard at the slaver, and even I scanned his coun- 
tenance closely. I fancy myself (as do many others) 
something of a physiognomist; but my scrutiny produced 
nothing, for his features betokened neither cruelty nor any 
vicious propensity. The dead silence was at last broken 
by the old lady saying to the last speaker, whose counte- 
nance she had been examining over my shoulder for some 
time, " Are you Mr. S V 

"Yes, Ma'am!" 

'• Ah ! how do you do ? Many's the dollar s worth i have 

bought of you. Don't you remember Miss , that used 

to be? It is thirty-five years since Ave met." and the old 
crones renewed their recollections of days long* gone by. 
The Quaker sunk back in his seat, and leaning his head 
; against the coach mused for some minutes, when the con- 
versation flagging he rallied again with — "But, friend, I 
have made converts in every town I have visited — " 

" Converts ! aye, you might make converts for any thing 
now ; such is the march of mind that every one thinks 



176 A subaltern'* furlotjgh. 

himself wiser than his father, and anything now, however 
mad or absurd the scheme may be, is eagerly swallowed. 
Why, you might convert one half the human race to mur- 
der the other, if you v/ould but propose it : any mad 
scheme finds numerous converts. A few years since, at 
Bristol here, a man was considered worse than a heretic 
if he was not a Mason, and now, such is the change in 
people's sentiments, and Anti-masonry is carried to such 
a pitch, that they would cut every Mason's throat for a 
mere tride — " 

" I have heard as much upon the other side of the 
question," ansv, ered the Quaker, " and with some truth 
I believe" (alluding to Morgan.*) This was evidently 
touching upon a tender point, for the dark man did not 
say any thing. The Quaker now addressed himself to 
the young man,sa)ang, "Thou hast read Gamsin's work 
on Colonization?" 

" No, I have not." 

" They mignt as well give them arsenic at once a» 
send them there," again commenced the slaver. 

" Aye, now I like to converse with thee upon a subject 
on which both agree — " 

" I never substitute theory for practice, nor talk about 
things J do not understand — " 

* William Morgan was a printer, residing at Batavia in the state 
of New- York, and published Avhat have been called the secrets of 
masonry, being himself a member of that society. A short time 
after the appearance of his pamphlet he was missing, and nothing 
certain respecting his fate is known to this day. It v/as ascertained, 
ifl\ion the trial of some suspected persons, that he had been cais 
r-ed away by force from his house during the night, and was subse- 
quently confined in a block-house within the fort of Niagara, on the 
American shore of Lake Ontario. As might be expected, a great 
*icitement was created throughout the States, and in some places 
'e;ven acts of personal violence were committed upon the Masons, 
who were accused of having murdered Morgan. In every part of 
ihe tTnion anti-masonic societies were formed ; there are now anti- 
masonic ncAvspapers, anti-masonic almaaacs, and even anti-masonic 
candidates for tlie high offices of president and governors of states, 
The only ground of pretension these candidates possess for filling 
such offices beijig that they are opposed to Masonry. Many Masons 
renounced the society of which they were members, and the number 
of those people who have arrayed themselves on the side of the anti- 
maaonic party is such as now to form a powerful political engine. 



A subaltern's furlough. 17T 

" But thou was talking of Liberia, Friend !" 

" Well, I said it was murder to send the negroes there: 
the settlement is located on the worst spot of the whole 
coast of Africa ; they are poor helpless beings, and when 
they arrive there they are not inured to the climate, and 
die by thousands." The Gluaker here took out his tablets 
and said, " Friend, thy name ?" 

" Why, Samuel S , of street, Boston, opposite 

the . All Boston know me as well as they do the 

old spire — ^" 

" Well, Friend, I want—" 

" Oh, I don't care what you want — ^" 

" I want the privilege of addressing a letter to thee upon 
the subject of colonization, for thy answer — " 

" I'll answer you, I don't care; I have been amongst 
forty priests at once. I belong to the good old church, but 
I don't believe all they want me : I don't think there's so 
much misery in this world as they say — " 

" But some people give such accounts of the colony." 

" Aye, to gull the New-Englanders out of their mo- 
ney—" 

" And to make slavery more secure by getting rid of the 
Free Blacks." We should now have had another storm, 
but, unfortunatel}'-, a turn in the road brought us in sight 
of a large steamer Avith a quarantine schooner alongside, 
lying in the river beneath us, which immediately changed 
the conversation. The slaver inveighed most bitterly 
against the New-Yorkers for running up and down, 
spreading the cholera through the country, " for nothing 
could ever convince him that it was not contagious. In 
the East Indies, however, they thought nothing of it; for 
the Captains of ships had told him that they had been 
attacked two or three times by it in Calcutta, but always 
came clear off by keeping a bottle of brandy and sorhe 
laudanum at their bedside, and taking a dose when they 
felt the attack coming on, and continuing it at intervals 
until cured." Although I knew he was labouring under 
a false impression with regard to the cholera being 
thought lightly of in Calcutta, and differed with him in 
opinion as to contagion, I deemed it prudent not to 
make any observation upon the latter part of the subject, 



178 A subaxtern's furlough. 

being so lately from New- York, and only remarked that 
" such being the case, how would the Temperance So- 
cieties retain their influence over the people, if they form- 
ed an idea that brandy would cure the disease ?" The 
little old woman sprang up sharply, " A man came to me 
^he other day with a book, and asked me to affix my 
name. I said, no ; I will not sign my name to any thing 
I do not know ; he told me to read, and I looked into the 
book, and found it was a Temperance Society Register ; 
oh, sir, said I, I thank you, I know what is good for me 
without being dictated to ; and if I feel thirsty, and some 
spirits and water were standing near me, I should think 
it cruel to debar myself a draught. I am seventy-two 
years of age, and old women, like me, require a stimulus 
and my own good sense will tell me when I have taken 
enough ; I gave it him in short-hand, I'll warrant you." 
We had now arrived at the pretty town of Taunton, and, 
changing coaches, I was deprived of a company which 
had afforded me much amusement, and, thinking it a good 
specimen of coach conversation, noted it down while the 
baggage was removing. 

My fellow-passengers were now much the reverse of 
the last : immediately we had left the town, they all leaned 
back in their seats, and closed their eyes. Once only did 
the slaver, who still accompanied me, endeavour to break 
the dead silence by observing that " we should now keep 
on the turnpike the rest of the journey ;" but, no one 
answering him, he also followed the general example, and 
I, though there were nine inside passengers, having se- 
cured a seat near the window, renewed my examination 
of the surrounding country, or watched the dark rolling 
clouds of a gathering thunder-storm. The road we tra- 
velled was certainly excellent, and no wonder as the whole 
«ountry was covered more or less with stone, and the walls 
of the inclosures made immoderately thick (from 4 to 5 
feet) for the purpose of ridding the ground. There was 
indeed, a sufficient quantity of rock upon the land to jus- 
tify a piece of wit by a Yankee, who, some few days after- 
wards, was a chance traveller with me over the same de- 
scription of country. After gazing for a length of time in 
apparent astonishment at the thick walls and the mass of 



A subaltern's furlough, 17S 

hard materials which covered every acre, he said, with ae 
air of well-feigned simplicity, "Well, I wonder where they 
could have got all the stones to build such thick walls." 
"Why, from the fields to be sure," said a surly old farmer 
" La I did they indeed?" answered the other; ''really I 
should never have missed them." Tome this was some- 
thing new ; but judging from the faces of my fellow-tra- 
vellers, and the Yankee's failure in attempting to create a 
general laugh, it was not original. The country wag 
woody and undulating, increasing in picturesque beauty 
and population as we approached Boston, where we ar- 
rived at half-past seven: and I considered myself especial- 
ly fortunate, as so many people had fled from 'Nevr- 
York to this city, in obtaining room at the Tremont 
House, the finest and best-conducted hotel in the United 
States. The building itself is not inferior in beauty to 
any in Boston, and the reading-room is well supplied 
with not only the principal American and Canadian 
newspapers, but also European and American publica- 
tions, of v/hich I could never get a sight in any othfii 
hotel in America, 



180 A subaltern's furlough= 

CHAPTER XIIL 

Athens of Italy ! 



fcOTHEBT. 



The city of Boston is built upon a peninsula, which is 
joined to the main land by a very narrow neck on the 
southern side; it contains about 70,000 inhabitants, and 
vies with any of its southern neighbours in the situation 
and beauty of its public and private dwellings. In 1630, at 
its foundation, the Indian name was Shawmut, which was 
changed to Trimountain, from the three hills upon which 
it is now built ; subsequently it received its present name, in 
honour of a minister who emigrated from Boston in Lin- 
colnshire. Upon the other sides of the peninsula, com- 
munication is kept up with the mainland by several strong 
wooden bridges varying in length from 1500 to 3500 feet, 
and on its western side by a pier of solid materials 1 1 mile 
in length, and above 80 feet in width. The bay is a most 
magnificent one, and equals that of New- York, but in a 
different style of beauty. The Boston bay is on a much 
more grand and extensive scale containing 75 square miles 
and studded with more than 100 islands and rocks, the 
only ship channel being between Forts Warren and In- 
dependence on Governor's and Castle islands. The land 
which almost encircles the bay is high and cultivated, 
and numerous towns and villages are scattered over it. 
When entering the harbour from sea, I think it much 
more beautiful than New- York. The city rises in a much 
prettier and more showy form upon its three hills, and the 
whole is surmounted by the lofty dome of the State House, 
But then there is no view from any part of Boston to be 
compared with the bewitching one from the battery in 
New- York on a still summer's evening. 

As to literary character, it is the Athens of the western 
world ; the number of its literary publications is very 
great, being 6 newspapers daily, 4 three times a week, 
8 twice a week, and 16 weekly ; 2 Aveekly magazines, 2 
semi-monthly, i 1 monthly (principally religious,) 4 every 
two months, 5 quarterly, and 1 semi-annually; and 



^ 



A subaltern's furlough. 181 

A new-year annuals ; — in addition to which the British 
Quarterly Review is rc-p inted. As an historical spot, it 
ranks far above all others in the west, having been the 
birth-place of American Independence ; and, the city 
having arrived to maturity before that event t(iok place, 
it more resembles an English one than any other in the 
States. I had become rather weary of straight streets, 
which, though in some respects convenient, are tiresomely 
monotonous to a stranger, and was glad to be once again 
walking in those of a description I had been most accus- 
tomed to. The environs are more pleasing also than those 
of Philadelphia and New York : the countiy being inter- 
sected with delightful rides, every one of which affords 
some fine view. 

The " common" in which the State House is situated in 
an open park, containing 75 acres of broken and abrupt 
ground, with a promenade and double row of fine trees 
round it. It was reserved in perpetuum by the first settlers 
for a parade-ground, or other public purposes, and is sur- 
rounded upon three sides by elegant private dwellings and 
several churches, the fourth side being open to a wide bay. 
There is a fine drooping old elm in the centre of it, near 
a serpentine sheet of water, which the inhabitants are 
taking every possible pains to preserve, by binding the 
large, broad, spreading branches, and connecting them 
with each other by strong belts and bars of iron. The State 
House, at one corner of the common, is on elevated 
ground, 30 feet higher than the street, from which a broad 
flight of steps leads to the great hall of 50 feet in length 
and breadth, and 20 high,which, with the treasurer's, ad- 
jutant, and quarter-master general's offices, occupies the 
lower story. In a building attached to the basement story- 
is a marble statue of Washington, executed by Chantrey 
at a cost of 15,000 dollars (3100/. sterling,) and consi- 
dered, by those who knew the original at the time of life 
it is intended to represent, a most striking and admirable 
likeness. The figure is concealed by the Roman toga, 
supported over the breast by the left hand; while the right, 
pendent at the side, holds a scroll ; it is placed upon a high 
pedestal, which (proh pudor !) is surrounded on every side 
by the stains of squirted tobacco juice. It is well that a 

VOL. I. — Q. 



182 A SABALTERn's fURLOUGH, 

Strong iron railing prevents visitors from approaching with- 
in less than seven feet, or the statue itself would be barely 
. sacred from such a filthy pollution. The second story con- 
tains the fine and spacious Representative's Room, and Se- 
nate Chamber; from the dome, which is 230 feet above the 
level of the sea, a most extensive view presents itself of the 
beautiful harbour and surrounding country. The exterior 
of the building, at a distance, is a striking object ; but, upon 
closer inspection, it is found to be constructed merely 
of the common brick, painted white. The entrance being 
through an arched front, which supports a colonnade of 
Corinthian columns, extending 94 feet, the full length of 
the centre of the building, has a handsome appearance, 
but the two wings, 40 feet each in length, look extremely 
bare, and might be much improved in architectural beauty. 
The Mason's Hall, on the opposite side of the Common, 
is a fine granite building, with Gothic windows and towers; 
and the Park Church near it has a highly ornamental 
and light spire. 

The New England Museum, which I had heard was 
the best in the States, contained a very poor collection ; 
every thing in it appeared mere trash, excepting a Venus 
by Canova, two paintings by Vernet, and one by Opie. 
The Americans have a sinsfular taste for wax figures in 
their museums, I had seen them exhibited at New- York, 
but should have given the Boston people credit for possess- 
ing better taste. In this museum they were most wretched 
compositions, and some of them disgusting subjects. 
One represented a man (who had been lately executed for 
the crime) in the act of murdering another as he slept in 
bed. Others were " Queen Caroline of England," the 
" Princess Charlotte," "Siamese twins," &c. ; and another 
was absurdly ridiculous : it represented the Goddess of 
America weeping over the tomb of Washington, upon 
which was an inscription, telling every reader, " whether 
an American or not, to behold with reverence and regret 
the tomb which contained the remains of the truest pa- 
triot, the best relative, and the kindest friend." The tomb 
was no more a model of the one at Mount Vernon than 
it was of the mausoleum of Hyder Ali at Seringapatam : 
and the goddess had such a rueful dirty countenance, from 



L subaltern's furlough. 183 

the damp which had caused the dust to collect in long 
streaks upon it, like the stripes of a zebra^ that it was next 
to an impossibility to look at the figure without bursting 
into a fit of laughter. This same goddess, too, appears a 
sreat favourite in the Museum, as there was a large daub 
of a painting in one of the rooms, representing a female 
in the attitude of holding a cup to an eagle which was 
hov'ering over her head, with the following inscription ; 
" The goddess of America giving nourishment to the bald 
eagle, trampling the key of the Bastile under foot, and 
the British fleet leavinof Boston," about which the light- 
ning is playing, and shivering the topsails of the men-of- 
war in a most terrific manner. 

The Faneuil Hall is an interesting old building, from 
the circumstance of its being the place where Hancock, 
Adams, and other revolutionary orators, addressed the 
populace and excited them to take up arms, after a 
small party of British soldiers had fired in their own de- 
fence upon some citizens, who (to quote the words of the 
American biographer) '■'had assailed the troops with balls 
of snow and other toeaponsj^ The original building, com- 
menced in 1740, was the gift of a gentleman of the name 
of Faneuil to the city of Boston, but was partially d^: 
stroyed by fire twenty years afterwards, and repaired in 
1763. The lower story is now occupied by shops, but 
the hall is still in use for public meetings. Between it 
and the bay is the Faneuil Hall Market, 530 feet in length, 
and 50 in width, built entirely of granite, upon ground 
reclaimed from the sea. The interior is divided into 128 
stalls of most capacious dimensions, each furnished with a 
large sash window, and kept remarkably neat and clean 
some even had smartly framed prints and other decora 
tions in them. They are also divided according to thefol 
lowing order : — 14 for mutton, lamb, veal, and poultry 
45 for beef; 19 for pork, lamb, mutton, and poultry 
4 for butter and cheese ; 19 for vegetables ; 2 for poultry 
and venison ; and 26 for fish. The cellar story is occupied 
for stores and provisions, and the second ground story 
for two great halls, the centre of the building being sur- 
mounted by a dome. On each side of the market-house, 
at 65 and 100 feet distant, are two fine rows of excellent 
shops, uniformly built of granite, and being of the same 



184 

length as the market, they present a remarkably handsome 
appearance. In rear of the Athenaeum, which contains a 
well-selected library of 27,000 vohimes and a collection of 
medals amounting to about 15,C00, is the Gallery of Fine 
Arts ; the lower story of the building is occupied by the 
Medical Society's Library, and the philosophical appara- 
tus of the Mechanics' Institution ; thi upper by the exhibi- 
tion of paintings, in which there are two very fine venera- 
ble heads of Washington and his wife, by Stuart, the only 
original portraits of them by that artist in America ; they 
are upon plain canvass, and considered striking likenesses, 
but the pictures are in a very unfinished state, the figures. 
not being even traced out. 

In the Navy-yard, w^hich is at Charlestown (built on 
another peninsula, connected with Boston by bridges, and 
containing 7000 inhabitants,) a most excellent Dry Dock 
is constructing. It is the only one in the country, and is- 
formed of hewn granite upwards of I 00 feet in length and 
80 in width; the chamber intended for line-of-battle ships 
to lie in is 200 feet in length, by 18 or 20 in depth. It 
has double gates, an outer one being required to bieak the 
motion of the sea. Two line-of battle ships and a large 
frigate were drawn up under cover of the sheds, and three 
other vessels of war lay alongside the pier. Tlie vessels 
on the stocks Aver& in the same state of forwardness as 
those at the other Navy-yards, and could be prepared for 
sea in a few weeks. Not a workman was employed about 
any of three line-of-battle ships and four frigates which 
I saw on the stocks at Washington, Philadelphia, Brook- 
lyn, and Charlestown, though much work was in progress 
connected with other branches of the nav}^ Whhin a short 
distance of the Navy-yard is Breed's Hill, upon which the 
memorable battle of the 17th of June, 1775, w^as fought; 
and generally known by the name of Bunker's Hill, which 
lies half a mile to the north west, at the entrance of the nar- 
row neck of the peninsula. Being sixty feet higher than 
Breed's Hill, it was the intention of the American general 
to defend it ; but the officer entrusted with the charge of 
the troops, through some mistake, led them to the one on 
the point of the peninsula, within range of the British 
batteries upon Copp's Hill in Boston. The redoubt which 



▲ subaltern's furlough. 185 

they threw up during the night, being attacked the follow- 
ing day by the royal troops under the command of Ge- 
nerals Howeand Pigot, was carried with great slaughter, 
after a most determined resistance on the part of the re- 
volutionists. In the redoubt, on the summit of the hill, 
and on the spot where General Warren fell, a monument 
was commenced on the 17th of June, 1825 ; the corner 
stone was laid by Lafayette, but was subsequently taken 
up and relaid, the foundation not being deep enough to 
resist the action of the frost. For the last three or four 
years no farther progress has been made, though the entire 
side of the hill is covered with the requisite materials ; 
want of funds is the reason advanced for not finishing it : 
but a stranger would imagine that such a city as Boston 
might in itself contribute more than the requisite sum: at 
present it is but a monument of the inhabitants' want of 
spirit. The design is upon a grand scale; an obelisk of 
granite, 50 feet in diameter at the base, and 220 feet in 
height. No one would wish to deprive the Americans of 
the honour of their victories ; but I never met one yet who 
did not claim Bunker's Hill as a splendid triumph over 
the British arms. In arguing the matter, I always re- 
ferred them to their own histories of the war, which have 
the candour to acknowledge that the provincialists retir- 
ed from the position, after making a resistance even longer 
than prudence admitted. The works of the Americans 
to this day prove how ably they blockaded the town, and 
a series of strong redoubts and entrenchments may be 
easily traced for a distance of fifteen miles, from Dor- 
chester Heights on the margin of the Bay to Winter Hill 
on the Mystic River. 

Two miles from Charlestown is Harvard College, 
which was founded in 1()37, and took its name from its 
hrst great benefactor, a minister, who bequeathed nearly 
800/. to it. The general Court of Massachusetts had ap- 
propriated the sum of 400/. towards its commencement in 
1630, and the small but pretty town in which it is situat- 
ed was called Cambridge, from many of the colonists hav- 
ing been educated at that university in England. It is 
more richly endowed than any other in the States, and, 
having property to the amount of about 600,000 dollars 



186 A subaltern's furlough. 

(125,000/.), is considered the most efficient for its purpose. 

A considerable income is derived from the brids^es lead- 

* 1 • 1 
mg into the city, the proprietors of some of them being 

bound by their charters to pay a certain annuity to the 
college for the loss of the income derived from the ferries, 
which were its property. The halls, six in number, stand 
within an inclosure of eight or ten acres, thickly planted 
with trees. The university is a fine granite building, and 
of more modern date than the rest, which are of brick, 
and have rather an air of antiquity, arising from the thick 
wooden window sashes, small square panes of glass, the 
numerous attics, and roof surmounted by a wooden bal- 
cony, or platform and railing. 

The mill-daTi across Charles River's Bay is one of the 
most interesting objects near Boston; it is a continuation 
of Beacon-street, which forms one side of the Common, 
and connects the city with Brookline. The piers is of solid 
materials, and U mile in length, cutting off upwards of 
t300 acres of land over which the tide formerly flowed, 
and by which means a great water-power has been ob- 
tained. A second dam has been thrown at right angles 
from it to a point of land in Roxbury, dividing the 600 
acres into two reservoirs of rather unequal proportions; 
and several mills have been erected upon this second dam, 
whose wheels are kept in motion by sluice-ways from the 
upper reservoir. The long pier in the upper reservoir 
is furnished with six pair of floodgates, which, moving 
upon easy pivots, are opened at high water by the force 
of the tide, and close again at the ebb. The lower reser- 
voir is also furnished with similar floodgates, which open 
at low and close at high water. Thus the mills have a 
fall of 14 feet from the upper reservoir (which is reple- 
nished every tide) into the lower one, which lets oflfthe 
waste water at the lowest ebb. Charles River, also, flows 
into the upper reservoir, and supplies it so abundantly 
that when I was at the floodgates about half-ebb a vast 
quantity of superfluous water was rushing over them. 
The cost of the pier was 350,0C0 dollars (73,000/.) but 
does not appear to be very profitable stock, there not be- 
ing more than twelve or fourteen mills, although there 



A subaltern's furlough. 187 

is space for one hundred upon it, and it has been finished 
eleven years. 

The Tremont Theatre, immediately opposite the hotel, 
and a very ornamental building, had closed for the season 
when I arrived; but, the fanaticism for which the New- 
Englanders were formerly so barbarously notorious hav- 
ing softened down to true religious principles, the town 
now supports two or three theatres, though the first was 
built only thirty-six years since. Even at the present day 
such innocent amusements are forbidden by law in some 
of the States, west of the Alleghany Mountains. 

One afternoon seeing a funeral enter the Granary 
Burial-ground, adjoining the Tremont hotel, so called 
from the public bread store having formerly stood there, 
I followed it, and, walking up to a lofty granite obelisk 
surounded by trees, discovered it was to the memory 
of Dr. Franklin's parents; it bore the following inscrip- 
tion : — 

FRANKLIN. 



" JosiAH Franklin, and Abiah his wife, lie here interred. 
They lived lovingly together in Avedlock 55 years, 
and without an estate, or any gainful employment, 
by constant labour and honest industry, 
maintained a large family comfortably, 
and brought up thirteen children and seven grand-children re- 
spectably ; 
so, from this instance, reader, 
l* encouraged todi ligence in thy calling, and distrust not Providence. 
He was a pious and prudent man. 
She a discreet and virtuous woman. 
Their youngest son, in filial regard to their memories, places 
, this stone. 

J. F. born 1655, died 1744, JE. 89. 

A.F. — 1667, — 1752, — 85. 

The original inscription having been nearly obliterated, a number 

of citizens erected this monument as a mark of respect for the ii- 

lustrious author. 

MDCCCXXVII." 

Turning round, immediately I had copied the above, 
which could not have occupied me five minutes, to my 
great surprise the funeral party had disappeared, and the 



188 A subaltern's furlough. 

gates were again locked; so I had no alternative but to 
climb the wall, and leap down some six or seven feet into 
the street, my sudden appearance in it astonishing some 
of the passers by. 

The materials for building at Boston are excellent, 
there being almost inexhaustible quarries of granite at 
the small town of Q,uincy (the birth place of two of the 
Presidents of the United States,) about nine miles from 
the city. The day I left the city, a melancholy accident 
occured to a party of four gentlemen from the Tremont 
hotel, upon the inclined railway connected with the quar- 
ries, by the chain to which the car was attached sudden- 
ly breaking when it had arrived within a short distance 
of the summit : the carriasfe descended with amazinof ve- 
locity until it struck some obstacle at the bottom, by which 
they were all thrown out with such violence that one was 
killed upon the spot, and the limbs of the other three were 
severely fractured. 

Brattle-street Church, where I attended service, was 
occupied as a barrack during the siege, and Governor 
Hancock's name, who was one of its benefactors, is in- 
scribed upon two of the corner-stones of the tower, with 
the date of 27th July, 1772. One of the inscriptions bears 
the marks of having been nearly erased by the bayonets 
of the British ; and a nine-pounder shot still remains in 
the tower where it struck, close to one of the windows. 
It was fired from the American lines the evening before 
the city was evacuated, and evidently intended for Ge- 
neral Gage's quarters, which were in a house opposite 
the church. 

Boston is often called "the paradise of clergymen," and 
never did a place possess such a proportion of churches; 
including Charlestown, it has not fewer than six- 
ty ; their style of architecture is generally neat. Trinity 
Church, which has not been long built, is a handsome 
and substantial edifice, and King's Chapel (or the stone- 
church, as some of the republicans call it,) in which the 
British Governor's pew still remains, more closely ap- 
proach the English style of places for sacred worship than 
any others I saw. 

The hospitals and charitable societies are very nume- 



A SUBALTERN'S FURLOUGH. 



189 



rous. One of the latter is very creditable to the British 
inhabitants of the city : it was established for the purpose 
of giving advice to emigrants upon their arrival in the 
country, and to render pecuniary assistance to those v^^ho- 
may require it, or have been reduced to poverty by the 
failure of their enterprise. Though established only fif- 
teen years it has given relief to more than a thousand 
British subjects, the funds being created by annual sub. 
scriptions of two dollars and upwards. The Massachu- 
setts' General Hospital, which was commenced about the 
same time by private subscriptions, is a fine building near 
one of the Charlestown bridges, and its interior economy 
well arranged. The origin of the hospital was the be- 
quest by a gentleman of a large sum of money, which 
was added to by a general subscription throughout the 
state, and so fir exceeded the amount required that the 
committee built a lunatic asylum at Charlestown with the 
surplus. Several of the private subscriptions amounted 
to from 1000 to 5000 dollars, and one even to 20,000. 

Leaving Boston on the 25th July through Brighton and 
Newton Lower-Falls, and to Westborough, over a fine 
sheet of water by means of a floating bridge, I arrived aS 
the pretty town of Worcester late in the evening. The 
road ran through a country of rather improved fertility, 
and ever^r stream was taken advantageof by some manu- 
factory. Engineers were also busy along the whole line 
of it in surveying and marking out a railway which was 
projected from Boston to Albany, 160 miles, and thus a 
connected line of communication would be opened be- 
tween Lake Erie and the Atlantic at Boston. From Wor- 
cester to Northampton the road passes through a fine, bold 
country, but rocky and difficult of cultivation ; the high 
lands and sides of the hills being set apart for pasture, 
and the valleys and alongthebanks of the rivulets, where 
the soil was ofa more fertile quality, for the growth of grain. 
This State, with Connecticut and Pennsylvania, has the 
reputation of being better farmed than any other; the 
average produce being from 25 to 30 bushels of Indian 
corn, and from 18 to 20 of wheat It struck me that the 
schools were much more numerous than in the other 
►States I had visited, every district and village possessing 



1^0 

one, wliich g-enerally occupied a spot on the road side ; 
the children were also remarkable for their decorum of 
manners, bowing and making courtesies to the passengers 
as the coach passed. I observed the same respect paid to 
well-dressed people in most parts of the New-England 
States, and also in the western part of the State of New- 
York. In the first code which was passed by Connecti- 
cut in 1G39, six years after the first settlement of the co- 
lony, it w^as ordered that every village of fifty families 
should maintain a good school for reading and writing; 
and the same law is also established in Massachusetts. 

We had a charming view of the fine country, wnth Am- 
herst College upon an eminence, from the summit of a hill 
a few miles before arriving at the village of Hadley, where 
the regicide judges lived after their retreat had been dis- 
covered at New-Haven. It is related that when the village 
was attacked, during Philip's bloody war of 1(575, it would 
have probably shared the fate of Brookfield and other 
towns through which we passed on the road from Boston, 
but for the timely appearance of a venerable stranger, who 
by his skill in military tactics and encouragement to the 
troops repulsed the Indians. His immediate disappearance 
after the retreat of the enemy induced the superstitious 
inhabitants to consider that he was their guardian angel, 
and had been expressly sent to their assistance. It was 
Colonel Goffe, who, in the emergency of the case, had 
ventured to leave his place of concealment in the cellar 
of the minister's house. 

Between the village and the Connecticut river, two 
miles distant, are rich and beautiful meadows, unconfined 
by fences, but well planted with fruit trees, and being 
overflow^ed by the spring freshets, which leave a deposit, 
the land is as productive as any in the State. A wooden 
bridge half a mile in length, crosses the river into the 
prettiestof American towns, Northampton. Nowhere did 
I seesuch beautiful villages as in New England, of which 
Concord in New Hampshire, Worcester and Northamp- 
ton, rank pre-eminent. The situation of this last is a 
charming one, in a rich country, upon a noble river, and 
steam navigation to the ocean. The streets are unlike 
any thing English. Frame houses possess a neatness 



A subaltern's furlough. 191 

«.nd cleanliness of appearance which it is impossible to 
impart to our heavy town abodes ; and, as the material 
of which they are built can be moulded into more elegant 
forms, the American houses are generally ornamented 
with light balconies and porticos, supported by columns 
of the Doric or Corinthian order. I thought Northamp- 
ton the most delightful and enviable place I had ever 
seen ; it is the very realization of a " rus in urbe,^^ the 
streets being so thickly planted with trees of a primeval 
growth that their boughs are almost interwoven across 
the road, and the neat private dwellings and shops beneath 
them appear like a series of cottages and gardens. The 
town has been settled nearly 180 years, and contains 
above 2000 inhabitants. On the opposite side of the river, 
which is crossed at South Hadley by a horse ferry, two 
miles distant, is Mount Holyoke, 1070 feet above the 
level of the river, and a favourite resort of travellers and 
parties of pleasure. Seven carriages, filled principally 
with ladies, arrived at the foot of the mount at the same 
time as myself The road winds along the side of it 
through a dense forest of trees, until within 400 feet of 
the summit, where it is necessary to dismount and clamber 
over rough loose stones and logs of wood for the remain- 
ing distance. But the scene which bursts upon the spec- 
tator's view, as he steps upon the bare black rock on the 
summit — a scene of sublime beauty, of which but an in- 
adequate description could be conveyed — amply repays 
him for his trouble and fatigue. A more charming day 
could not have been desired : it was one of those clear Ame- 
rican atmospheres which are unknown in our own hazy 
clime, with just sufficient light floating clouds to throw 
a momentary shadow over parts of the rich vale, which 
lay spread out beneath in all the various hues of a quickly 
ripening harvest. Innumerable white houses, and spires 
of churches, were seen scattered amongst the trees and 
along the banks of the smooth but rapid Connecticut (up 
which a solitary steamer was slowly creeping,) which 
river in its fantastic and capricious windings returned 
within a few yards of the same spot, after watering two 
or three miles of the vale — o^, after being concealed at 
intervals by the hills and woods, would again appear 



i9^ A subaltern's furlough. 

with its silvery surface glistening amidst the dark foliagtii 
at the distance of many miles. These objects, and above 
^11, the high and rocky mountains, contrasted with the 
smiling valleys, altogether formed one of the most mag- 
nificent panoramas in the world. Places 160 miles apart 
from each other were distinctly visible. I soon recog- 
. aized the bluff rocks near New-Haven, at eighty miles 
distance, though only 400 feet in height, and could ea- 
sily trace their rugged and bold outline upon the clear 
horizon. 

I had carried my pencils and sketch-book up with me; 
but did not even presume to take them from my pocket. 
So, after having feasted my eyes for the space of an hour 
I went into the small frame house which is on the sum- 
mit, for something more substantial. The occupant, or 
rather tenant, as he pays a rent of 100 dollars per annum 
for the spot of ground, might be an old sailor, from the 
extravagant price he charges for refreshments ; but, in 
my opinion, his money is well-earned, as he ascends 
the mountain daily from the village at its foot. The table 
in the room was covered with a number of books, mis- 
named albums, in which every visitor, who has been either 
in a sentimental, witty, or meditative mood, has thought 
proper to record the w^orkings of his mind, which were 
generally bombastic descriptions of the view, winding up 
with a moral lecture. I sympathized deeply with ohe poor 
poet, who had departed from the usual line, with 

" O great Olympus, fair Northampton's pride, 

How liot it is to travel up thy side ! 
Hail mighty mount, grand beacon of our sphere! 

I wonder how the d — 1 1 got here !" 

But many Smiths and Thompsons, more ambitious of 
transmitting their names to remotest posterity, had witli 
laudable zeal engraven their names upon the hard rock. 
The descent is even more difficult than the ascent, being 
so precipitotis. When I regained the spot where I had 
tied my horse, and found it quietly standing there, I could 
not but admire the complete manner in which he was 
trained. Arriving at the skirts of the wood, and imagin- 
ing that, from this point, I could take a good sketch of 



A subaltern's furlough. 193 

ihe rich vale, with Northampton, and a mountain in the 
back-ground, I dismounted, and placing- the bridle over 
a post in the fence, sat down upon the grass, and com- 
menced the preliminary operations ; but, hearing a noise 
I turned round and perceived that my well-trained steed 
which evidently had not been accustomed to this second 
part of the day's performance, had broken the bridle, and 
was galloping off at full speed. Gathering up my pen- 
cils and rubber, I pursued, and at last succeeded in driv- 
ing him up into the angle of a worm-fence, Avhere he 
took up a most impregnable position, defending it as reso- 
lutely v^^ith his heels. To add to my discomfiture, some 
ladies with whom I had been conversing on the summit 
of the mountain came down at the moment I was busily 
engaged in reconnoitring the ground, prior to making 
an attack to the best possible advantage; and seeing them 
laughing heartily, I felt myself in honour bound (lest 
they should imagine that I had been thrown) to walk 
up and explain the merits of the case to them. After 
much manoeuvring, I succeeded in securing him, and, 
tying the bridle on with my handkerchief, returned to 
Northampton without the intended sketch. 

Proceeding west, the road passes through a mountain- 
ous and only partially cleared country, with fine groves 
of noble hemlock, which appeared to be fast diminishing 
in number from the bark being used for tanning leather. 
We were five hours and a half upon the road from North- 
ampton to Worthington, though only nineteen miles. 
From Pittsfield (where an agricultural show has been 
established upwards of twenty years, and takes place an- 
nually in October, the road ascends a hill of considera- 
ble height. Being formed on the side of the hill, the 
foundation on the outer edge is made with trees laid close 
together, covered with earth, and no protection for a car- 
riage against falling over the side, but some weak rails, 
generally composed of small trees laid horizontally in 
the fork of others fixed upright in the ground, form- 
ing a very ineflicient fence against the precipice close to 
which the coach passes. I congratulated myself upon 
arriving safely at the summit with a fine view of the 
Catskill Mountains in the distance, andthe village in the 

VOL. I. — R. 



194 A subaltern's furlough 

valley of Lebanon, two miles beneath us. The road wa5 
however, even more steep than on the other side we as- 
cended ; and having a heavy load on the coach, and as 
usual in America, no slipper on the wheel, ^ve descended 
the hill with such frightful speed that, whirling round a 
sharp turn (where the road too had an inclination out> 
wards,) the vehicle lost its equilibrium, the passengers 
screamed out and over it went 1 would not at that mo- 
ment have given half a dollar to insure all otir lives. 1 
saw the tops of the trees far below, and thought nothing 
could save us from perching amongst their boughs. The 
rails gave w^ay with a crash, when I was surprised by a 
sudden and violent shock, occasioned by the coach falling 
on the friendly stump of a tree which checked us in our 
course. The vehicle in part overhanging the precipice, 
carpet bags and mail bags, trunks and hat boxes were to 
be seen rolling down the hill to the depth of 150 feet. 
Regulus of old could not have had a more uncomfortable 
descent in his barrel than we should have had, if the coach 
had been two or three feet farther on either side of the 
stump. There were eight passengers of no light weight 
inside, and I was one of those who were undermost. A 
strong voice called out above me, *' Never mind, there's 
no one hurt," " Thank you," said a smothered tone, 
"but there a'int 'casion to speak for me, I guess." As 
soon as I could extricate myself from the confused mass 
of arms and legs, and scramble out of one of the windows 
I began to shake myself to discover what broken limbs I 
had ; but finding only a sprained thumb, ditto leg, and 
one or two contusions on the ribs, and that none of my 
companions were much more injured, I began to search 
for my baggage. 

We had just raised the shattered coach again, when 
some people who had seen it upset from the Lebanon 
springs galloped up, expecting to find half the passen- 
gers killed ; in an hour more I was in the Columbia hall 
hotel. 



A subaltern's furlough. 195 

CHAPTER XIV. 

By your priesthood, tell me what you are ! 

DONNS. 

At Manchester, in England, this burning truth began, 
When Christ made his appearance in blessed Mother Ann. 
A few at first received it, and did their lusts forsake. 
And soon their testimony brought on a mig-hty shake. 

For Mother's safe protection, good angels flew before, 
Towards the land of promise, Columbia's happy shore ; 
Hail thou victorious Gospel, and that auspicious day 
When Mother safely landed in North America ! 

" Memorial to Mother Ann." 

The company at the Lebanon springs during the season 
is made up of the same kind of people as at Cheltenham, 

[ or any of our fashionable watering places. Some come 
to got rid of their daughters ; others to get rid of their 
complaints ; others, again, to avoid the sickness of the 
south ; and the rest are composed of travellers, fortune- 
hunters, pleasure seekers, and the odds and ends of 
society. The Shakers' village, two miles distant, proves, 
however, a great attraction. On the 29th of July, I at- 
tended their Sunday meeting, which was held in a large 
building by the roadside, containing a finely proportioned 
room of 80 by 60 feet, with arched ceiling, well calculated 

I for sound, and a beautifully white floor, with scarcely a 
knot upon its surface. There were two doors in the 
front of the room, the gentlemen visitors entering at the 
one and the ladies at the other; while the members of 
the Society made their appearance separately also, the 
men by a door at the south, and the women by one at the 
north end of the building. Elevated seats for the visitors 
occupied one side of the room, a rail dividing the two 
sexes. 1 sat very impatiently for three-quarters of an 
hour before the Society assembled, when they occupied 
two rows of benches facing each other, a slight opening 
between two boards in the floor forming the boimdary 
line. The men were dressed in drab coats, quaker 
feshioa, but with a rolling collar, old-fashioned dark wai§V 



196 ^ A subaltern's furlough. 

coats reaching as low as the hips, and gray trowsers of 
striped cotton or linen, the hair cut short in front, and al- 
lowed to grow a considerable length at the back of the 
head ; the women in white gowns, with large muslin caps 
which concealed their profile, and high-heeled shoes. 
Both sexes entered with a singular kind of springing 
step, as if walking" upon the toes. The total number of 
members, including two people of colour, might have 
been 250, of which 130 were males. Amongst them 
were 30 or 40 children from ten to fifteen years of age ; 
tlie rest were from thirty to seventy : but I scarcely ob- 
served any who appeared between those two periods. 
Most of them entered without their coats, and the day 
being warm, all had their waistcoats unbuttoned, so as to 
display a clean long white neckcloth and shirt, with a 
narrow piece of green riband encircling the arm above 
the elbow. The service commenced by the whole society 
rising and removing the benches to the side of the room. 
Both sexes then advanced towards the line of demarcation 
in a close column, showing a front of 16 by 8 deep, but 
in oblique lines, so that the feet of the two people on the 
inner flank were within a few inches of the boundary line, 
while those on the outer were six paces apart. An elder, 
stepping out, addressed them in a few words, standing 
with his back to the wall, his feet upon the line, and 
fronting the open space between the two parties. He 
spoke in so Iowa tone of voice that I could scarcely catch 
the import of his words, but understood him to say that 
" they had assembled there to pray," and recommending 
" suitable exercise:" when, resuming his place, the 
members sang a hymn, moving their feet in time with 
the air, which was a strange composition, equally unin- 
telligible and monotonous as an Indian chant at the 
feast of the Mohorum, or a Burman boat song as I have 
heard it on the Irawaddi, to which it bore no slight re* 
semblance. When it was concluded, they knelt in silence 
for a few minutes, and, after rising, another elder address- 
ed us, saying, " He trusted we should behave with pro- 
priety and decency, as decent people ought, and recollect 
that we were in a house of woi'ship, though we were not 
believers of the same faith : an address, indeed that was 



A subaltern's furlough. 197 

much required ; for I could not divest myself of the idea 
that we were in a theatre, and, had anyone set the exam- 
ple, I have but little doubt there would have been a bois- 
terous round of applause. In truth we were but mere 
spectators : none took any part in the service, but re- 
mained as immoveable and attentive to the proceedings 
before them as they would if viewing any novelty in a 
place of public amusement. The rest of the men now 
divested themselves of their coats, hanging them upon 
pegs in the wall, and each of the women laid the white 
handkerchief she had held in her hand upon the benches; 
indications that they were about to set to in good earnest. 
Two rows of about forty persons stood with their backs 
to the wall, the remainder forming a column fronting 
them at some distance. The former party struck up a 
lively air, with some words attached to it, (all that I could 
distinguish were, " I will be truly good," frequently re- 
peated,) and the latter commenced dancing in correct 
time, advancing three steps; then balancing three, and 
retiring again, advanced as before, turning round at in- 
tervals in the tune in a style which a quadrille dancer 
might even be proud of. The singers throughout the 
time kept their arms close to their bodies, with the lower 
part of them projecting out, and moving their hands up 
and down (I hope I shall be excused for making an ab- 
surd but striking simile,) like so many kangaroos stand- 
ing upon their hind legs. Upon the whole, it was a most 
singular scene : old and young were dancing away with- 
out their coats, as if it had been a matter of life and 
death; while the room, containing not fewer than six 
or seven hundred people, was hot to suffocation. Though 
the women exerted themselves most laboriously, they 
were (owingto their dress, I presume) as pale and ghast- 
ly as so many shrouded bodies or living corpses, — an 
appearance they wished to assume, I should imagine, as 
not being ver}^ inviting to the eyes of " the world's peo- 
ple,'' as they term us old-fashioned folks. I overheard 
one of a party of younof men sitting in rear of me, who 
could not at all contain themselves, " he had seen an 
Egyptian mummy look handsomer than any of them.'' 
I could not, however, agree with him upon that score; 

R* 



198 A subaltern's furlough. 

for there were two or three pair of very pretty dark eyes, 
with some finely-formed features. One young girl, in 
particular, about eighteen or twenty years of age, who 
paid much more attention to the spectators than to her 
devotions, would doubtless have been well pleased to re- 
gain her former place in the world. She was in the last 
row of females, so that no one could overlook her mo- 
tions : and all the 3'oung people were similarly disposed 
of Those who formed the first row, and who were con- 
fronted face to face with the men, were the oldest and 
ugliest of the party : a dangerous post like this was not 
assigned to young people, with such eyes ^s interpreters, 
an elopement having occasionally taken place, much to 
the dismay of the elders. A respectable, middle-aged 
man, who had received the visitors and shown them to 
their seats with great civility, took no part in the per- 
formance of the above ceremonies, but passed his time m 
observing the effect such a singular show had upon the 
audience. ^ After the Society had finished their first dance 
and song, he came up directly in front of me, and saia, 
"he had seen two or three 3^oung men talking and laugh- 
ing, as if they were in a theatre or ball-room." All eyes 
were turned instajiter in my direction ; but, fortunately 
for my credit, the speaker particularized them, and I dis- 
covered they were the " Egyptian Mummy" party. He 
continued his lecture by telling them, " if they wished to 
laugh, to walk out upon the floor, and allow every one to 
see them; if they hadanj^ thing to say. let every one heai 
what it was : that the rest of the visitors had behaved 
respectably and with propriety, and had his thanks for so 
doing; but that, for these young men, they conductea 
themselves worse than heathens, who have some respect 
for the religion of others ; that they deserved reprimand- 
ing, and that he reprimanded them accordingly." The 
The young men looked much abashed, and took an early 
opportunity of retiring. The Society afterwards formed 
a column of fi^-e in front, with fourteen members m the 
centre of the room, who sang some words to a tune like 
^'Yankee doodle," the column steppmg off at quick time, 
and marching round the room as correctly as any weil- 
drilled battalion, changing step when necessary, and, if 



A subaltern's furlough. 199 

any one fell out in front, his place was immediately oc- 
cupied by some one from the rear. They beat time by 
moving their hands up and down as before described, 
clapping them in certain parts of the tune. After thus 
marching round several times, they halted, and, the inner 
files of two facing about, a brisk air was struck up, and 
they moved off again in different directions, circling 
round the room, halting and singing in the slow parts of 
the air ; then quickening their pace almost to a run at the 
more lively parts. Altogether I scarcely ever saw so dif- 
ficult or so well-performed a field day. They had been 
evidently well drilled, or they could not have acquired 
such skill in manoeuvring ; for there was such a series 
of marchiner and countermarching, slow step, quick 
step, and double quick step, advancing and retiring, form - 
nig open column and close column, perpendicular lines 
and oblique lines, that it was sufficient to puzzle and 
confound the clearest head of the lookers on. 

After a hard hour's work, the first speaker, Avho had 
requested us " to behave with decency," again came for- 
ward, and spoke to the following effect : " Friends, I wish 
to say a few words to you. No doubt what you have seen 
to-day appears vastly strange — a mode of worshipping 
the Almighty altogether new to you: and I am not sur- 
prised that it should appear strange, ' The way of the 
Lord is foolishness with man.' I asked your attention 
and good conduct before Ave commenced ; some few have 
not behaved well — far from it indeed, but I am not even 
surprized at that. They probably despised us and laughed 
at us in scorn and derision. We, however, are satisfied : 
we well know that we are in the right path, that the Lord 
IS pleased and is reconciled with us. Works speak for 
themselves, and the tree is known by its fruit ; we there- 
fore fear not the taunts of men. There are, however, so 
many sects, so many various forms of religion, so many 
crying out ' this is the right way,' and 'this is the rigKt 
way, that those seeking the truth scarcely know which 
WRY to turn ; but if you wish to be saved, iianyoi you feel 
vou have need of salvation (and 'the physician is only re- 
quired by the sick') it is here only to be found — this is the 
only true path : amongst these only, these the true disciples 



200 A subaltern's turlough. 

of Christ, who follow his glorious example in taking up a 
daily cross, and denying themselves the things of this 
world. I have no doubt some of you despise us, and that 
all of you profess to be religious, and all nearly determine 
upon repenting of your sins, and leading a new life; but 
day after day is this hour of reformation put off. It is 
delayed time after time until some more convenient op- 
portunity. We desire your happiness, we pray for your 
good, but we cannot flatter you — not one of you will be 
saved, unless you abstain from the lust of the flesh, all 
sin and worldly desires, and shun the eye, the pride of 
life — the eye, the pride of lifeV — The speaker here be- 
came quite violent, stamping with his feet, and holding 
out his clenched hand while he repeated the last sentence, 
looking hard at the lady spectators. " Whence arises all 
sin, all deadly and barbarous wars ? — whence this sick- 
ness which now desolates the land ? Let those, then, 
who wish to be saved, forsake those things which sepa- 
rate the soul from God. Cease to do evil, and you will 
learn to do good; imitate us in taking Christ for a pat- 
tern, and you will then assuredly find salvation." 

His address lasted about twenty minutes, and was de^ 
liver ed with great energy ; but he was an illiterate man, 
and could scarcely speak correct English — evidently la- 
bouring, too, under great difficulty from want of words to 
express himself, and his whole discourse abounded with 
tautology. I was rather alarmed lest he should observe 
me taking notes of his lecture; for, had he only cast eyes 
upon me, I should have received no gentle reprimand. 
After another song, the meeting broke up, having lasted 
an hour and a half 

I had some conversation immediately aftei wards with 
one of the elders, who appeared a sensible well-informed 
man. He stated that the Society at this village consisted 
of 600 people, but that not more than a third ever at- 
tended service together, excepting once a year, when ail 
assembled. In answer to my inquiries, he said that they 
had received an addition of 100 members within the last 
two years, many of whom were English. I had observed 
two very stout, ruddy faced, farmer-looking men, who, he 
said, had only just arrived from my native country. One 



A subaltern's furlough. 201 

was the very prototype of Friar Tuck, and it would be a 
considerable time before he exchanged his fat cheeks for 
the long demure face of the rest of the Society. The other 
danced round the room, swinging his hands about, and 
bellowing at the full extent of his voice, as if he was still 
tripping it at some English village wake. 'Tis said 
"there is nothing new under the sun;" but it seems 
strange that such fanaticism should exist with so much 
zeal and good religious feeling. 

The village is remarkable for the neatness and cleanli- 
ness of the houses. The school is well conducted, and 
the children educated in it generally possess a superior 
education to those elsewhere. After acquiring the age of 
maturity, they are under no obligation to remain with the 
Society, but are free to return to the world ; nor are they 
allowed rashly to enlist under the banners of " the be- 
lievers," but must seriously take the matter into consi- 
deration, and even undergo a noviciate of some months> 
when, if still of the same opinion, they are admitted and 
enjoy the same privileges as the other members. At any 
time indeed they may withdraw, but cannot claim any 
compensation for the time the}^ may have worked upon 
the lands of the Society, nor, should they have thro"v^Ti 
property into the common stock, can they reclaim it, 
though none that have as yet withdrawn have gone away 
empty-handed. The principal rules of the Society are 
celibacy, non-interference with politics, peace with all man- 
kind, and paying to every man his due ; nor will they be 
answerable for the debts of any of the Society, or admit 
any one as a member who has not honestly discharged 
all his pecuniary debts. No one, except in case of sick- 
ness or infirmity^ is allowed to become a burthen on the 
Society; but all must work, and all property is in common, 
the fruits of their labour being thrown into a general fund. 
The women are employed in knitting gloves, making fan- 
cy ornaments, and spinning, while the men follow various 
trades, the goods being exposed for sale at the trustee's 
office : every article is of the best quality, but the price 
is exceedingly high. The woman who sold me what few 
thmgs I bought used as many persuasives as the most 
experienced shopkeeper in England, with the true '^wil! 



202 A subaltern's furlough. 

you look at this, sir? — this is an excellent article," and 
" these gloves wear remarkably well; you had better take J 
a pair, sir." They possess about 3000 acres of well-cul- 
tivated land adjoining- the village, and extensive gardens 
for rearing seeds, which produce a considerable income, 
being in great demand throughout the States. The So- 
ciety is governed by two elders of each sex, elected by the 
members. Their duty is to give information to candid, 
inquirers, and to admit those who desire to unite them- 
selves to the Society ; also occasionally to preach the 
gospel. The entire body is divided into families from 80 
to 100 members each, who again appoint two elders as 
their head, whose duty it is to manage the temporal con- 
cerns of the family. Their houses are large, commo- 
dious, and substantial brick buildings, four stories in 
height. 

The Society is also divided into three classes : 1st, 
those who do not assent to the rule of celibacy, but re- 
side at a distance from the village with their own families 
attending worship, and otherwise conforming to the rules, 
2dly, Those who are members, but can return to the 
world's people whenever they think fit; and 3dly, those 
who, vowing to remain members in perpetuum, have en- 
tirely given themselves up as followers of the faith. They 
all live in a remarkably comfortable manner, even well, in 
the sense of the world, with whose people, however, they 
will not eat in company; but, when some of them rode up 
to the springs in a car, they showed that they possessed 
a taste for the good things of this life, as well as the rest 
of mankind, by sitting dovvn, taking a glass of brandy and 
water, smoking, and conversing cheerfully. Two or three 
backslidings haveoccurred amongst the young members, 
who have eloned, proving they were not invulnerable to 
the shafts of that little urchin Cupid; and I shrewdly 
suspect that many others would not be at all backward , 
in following the same example, did but an opportunity 
occur. The sect, however, gains ground considerably, 
and there are not fewer than 5000 Shakers in the United 
States, though it is but fifty -nine years since Mrs. Lee, or 
" Mother Ann," as she is called, emigrated from England, 
She was a native of Manchester, and married to a blaqk^ 



A subaltern's turlough. 203 

femith in that town, and is considered the founder of the 
sect, though several people had formed themselves into a 
Society following the same mode of worship as early as 
1747. She was an illiterate woman, unable either to 
read or write. The cruel persecutions she suffered in 
England on account of her religious opinions induced her 
to embark, with her husband and others of the same per- 
suasion for America, in 1774, where she established herseli' 
near Albany, twenty-five miles from Lebanon, removing 
to the latter place some few years after, and dying in 
1784, in her forty-eighth year. Lebanon is now the head 
of the Shaking church. That such a sect is not well cal- 
culated for a youno- and thinly inhabited country is self- 
evident ; for though by their sobiiety, good faith, honest 
and upright conduct, they set an example to the rest of 
mankind worthy of imitation, and most of their regu- 
lations are founded upon highly moral and admirable 
principles, yet others are fallacious, and the argument 
upon which they rest is altogether untenable. They hold 
that the millennium has commenced, and that all the hu- 
man race is to be extinct by conforming to their first 
great precept of celibacy. Without such a fundamental 
rule, indeed, such a Society could not long exist. Pro- 
fessing to be close imitators of Christ, they are far from 
it. The Saviour of the world went about doing good, 
exposing Himself to the ingratitude of those He served, 
and at last, for their sakes, suffering an ignominious and 
painful death ; while they, who pretend to take Him as 
a pattern, lead an easy and comfortable life, and seem 
chiefly occupied in adding to their wordly riches, while 
their charity is bounded by the chain of hills which en- 
circle their settlement. That such a Society should exist 
for a day, in the present intellectual state of the world, is 
truly astonishing; but "nil admirari" appears to be the 
motto of common sense. The Society is composed 
chiefly of ignorant and illiterate people, and of many who 
have been disappointed in life, and have thus withdrawn 
themselves from the rest of mankind, unable to bear up 
and strive against the adversities of their lot as true 
Christians. 

The temperature of the water at the wells is 73° Fah^ 



^04 A subaltern's furlough. 

renheit ; it is pleasant to the taste, and, being devoid of 
almost every medicinal quality or saline taste, is used as 
common beverage. From chemical analysis, two quarts 
are said to contain 

grain. 

Muriate of lime . . . 1.00. 

Muriate of soda . . , 0.75. 

Sulphate of lime . . . 1.50. 

Carbonate of lime . . 0.57. 
ft boils up in the gardens of the hotel in sufficient quan- 
tity to supply the the requisite baths, and is afterwards 
used for setting in motion the wheels of three manufac- 
tories. I was much amused by seeing a large party of 
ladies and gentlemen, fresh arrivals, assemble round the 
spring one evening, tasting the water and passing their 
opinion upon its merits, some even refusing to put the 
glass to their lips, fearing the effects of a draught, when 
y,hey had been taking plentiful potions of the same at 
I he dinner table. 

The evenings were usually passed in dancing except on 
Saturday, the Sabbath commencing with some of the New 
Englanders at sunset on the preceding day. The band 
consisted of two negroes playing on violins, and a third 
upon a bass. The leader of the sable trio (a barber, by the 
.bye, composing part of the establishment of the house) 
acted as a kind of maltre du ballet, crying out " Ba- 
ianciey !" — "tanyour patners!" — "La'sshen!" and other 
jargon, utterly unintelligible even to those who were ac- 
quainted with the figure of every quadrille. The ladies' 
dancing was a composition of walking, running, and shuf- 
fling; the gentlemen acquitted themselves as well b.^ gen- 
uemen generally do. I overheard one, who prided him- 
self a good deal on his manner of twirling round the room, 
say that he had " the best waltzing master in Paris, last 
winter." 

Amongst other resources for killing time at the springs, 
nine-pins bore a prominent part. I accompanied some 
gentlemen to the alley one day for the purposeof playing, 
v^hen, our number on each side being unequal, one of the 
party (a young collegian from New-Haven) invited a 
gentlemanly-looking man to join us in a rubber; he con- 



'A SUBAL'rlSRK^S FURLOtfGfi. '^05 

'tented to play a single game after some hesitation, and 
came off winner. At dinner I heard a voice familiar to 
my ear say, from behind my chair, " What will you take. 
Sir ?" and turning round, saw our friend of the morning 
acting in capacity of waiter; he certainly possessed a 
more intellectual countenance than two-thirds of the pec- 
pie at table. 

Feeling myself sufficiently recovered to undergo ihe 
dislocating motion of the road, and all my acquaintance at 
the springs taking their departure, I also stepped into the 
coach on the mornino- of the 1st of Auo-ust, and, bein«- the 
only passenger, imagined I should have a quiet, easy jour- 
ney, but soon found myself egregiously mistaken. There 
not being sufficient weight to steady the vehicle on its 
clumsy springs, it was tossed to and fro like a ship in a 
gale of wind. We passed through the small manufactur- 
ino- towns of Nassau and Alvia. Some sino-ular sii>n.s 
in the latter attracted my attention ; one especially, of 
"MissSimms, Tailoress,''^ emblazoned in large characters 
tipon a board against the house-side, struck me as a novel 
mode of a lady earning a livelihood. 

The entrance to the city of Troy, twenty-five miles from 
f^ebanon, through an excavated rock, which forms part 
of the classically-named Mount Ida, is exceedingly pretty. 
The city, containing about 12,000 inhabitants, occupies 
an alluvial plain of some extent between the mount and 
the Hudson River. Having some spare time, I walked 
through several of the streets, and visited the Episcopal 
Church, which has a very tasteful Gothic tower: one of 
the prettiest specimens of architecture I saw in the Unit- 
ed States; but the body of the church, not being built in 
unison with it, gives the edifice the air of a piece of 
patch-work An elegant and large Court-house was 
completed, with the exception of its portico, in a street 
adjoining the church : but it bore too strong a resemblance 
to the United States' Bank at Philadelphia, of which 1 
had since seen so many fac-similes, to have many 
charms for me. The building was entirely of white mar- 
ble, and modelled after the temple of Theseus at Athens. 
The gallant " Trojans," as the inhabitants call themselves, 
were partaking of the New-York panic, and leaving the 

VOL. I. — s. 



206 A subaltern's ytJRLOUOH. 

city in crowds, on account of few cases of cholera being 
reported. 

The river, which is about a quarter of a mile wide, is 
crossed by a horse-ferry to the village of Watervliet, 
where " Mother Ann" originally established herself; and 
a few miles farther the road passes the houses of some 
married Shakers, belonging to the Niskayuna settlement, 
three miles to the south-west. From this place to 
Schenectad)'- the country is dull, uninteresting in point 
of scenery, and devoid of habitations; but now, having 
gained the banks of the Mohawk River, a rich alluvial soil 
presents itself There is but little worthy of notice in the 
town, excepting Union College, on an eminence near the 
road from Troy. Only two large buildings, forming part 
of what is intended, are at present erected; but several 
more are to be immediately added, and, the adjoining 
grounds being spacious, it promises to become a pretty 
spot. The college has been very liberally endowed by 
the State to the amount of 300,000 dollars, and the num- 
ber of students at this time is about 200. Dr. Nott, the 
President, is not only a good classical scholar, but an ex- 
cellent and persevering mechanic. Some of his inven- 
tions have even gained a considerable name in England., 
amongst which is an improvement in hot air stoves for 
heating cathedrals and large buildings. He has expend- 
ed also large sums of money in experiments upon steam- 
yessels; several of which are constructing upon his plac 
of having twenty small boilers, instead of two or four 
large ones, and are considered safer than those generally 
in use, and equally swift. After passing two hours in 
Schenectady, I entered the packet boat on the Erie Ca- 
nal, and proceeded at the rate of four miles an hour, on 
a line parallel with the Mohawk. This immense work, 
which connects the waters of the Hudson with those ol 
Lake Erie, was commenced in 1817, at the suggestion of 
De Witt Clinton, at that time Governor of the State of 
New-York. It was then looked upon as a visionary 
scheme, and called in derision " Clinton's big ditch ;" yet, 
notvvithstanding considerable opposition, he succeeded in 
carrying his project into effect, well knowing the in- 
estimable benefits which would arise, and thje enormou€ 



A StyBALTERN's FURLOUGH. 207 

Fevenne which would accrue to the State from its con- 
struction^ It was not, however, finished until eight years 
after its commencement, at an expense of a million and a 
half sterling ; but the income already arising from it is 
250,000/. annually, and, in four years hence, the stock 
will be redeemed. It is 3G3 miles long, 40 feet wide at 
the top, 2S at the bottom, with 4 feet depth of water, and 
a slight inclination of half an inch in amile from the lake, 
which is 568 feet higher than the Hudson. The packet 
boats, as on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, are large 
and well furnished with excellent sleeping berths, and the 
charge very reasonable, being only three cents {\rrd) per 
mile, breakfast and dinner being provided on equally mo- 
derate terms ; so that the travellinsf is rendered more 
agreeable and almost as speedy as upon the rough turn- 
pikes. 

I varied my mode of travelling by leaving the boat 
sometimes at the locks, and walking on, being able at ^ 
moderate pace to keep a-head of it. Upon arriving at the 
first lock, we found more than twenty boats waiting for 
tiieir turn to pass through; but all were obliged to give 
way to our vessel, which, paying a higher toll, claimed 
priority of passage. The legality of this preference did 
not, however, appear to be at all comprehended by the pas- 
sengers in the other boats, nor did they submit to it vvith- 
out murmuring, thinking (as they said) that all boats 
■"were alike free and equal." We had only ten passen- 
gers, although there was ample accommodation for forty. 
Having walked several miles along the towing-path dur- 
ing the day, I was in a sound sleep soon after taking 
possession of the berth allotted to me. The locks being 
90 feet in length and 15 in breadth, and the boats 80 by 
14, some little inconvenience arises to those people who 
are not sound sleepers, from the impossibility of steering' 
the boat to such a nicety as to avoid striking heavily 
against the walls. We experienced an hour's delay dur- 
ing the night, from the horses of a vessel a-head of us 
breaking loose, and galloping down upon our train which, 
throwing their driver head foremost into the canal, follow- 
ed the example of the others by breaking the tow rope and 



308 A SUBALTEEH's PVRLOUGH.. 

scampering off, leaTing the man rolling about, half 
stunned, in the water. 

In the morning we had a dense fog, not uncommon on 
the banks of the Mohawk, and which, as is frequently the 
case elsewhere, was the forerminer of a very hot day. 
The country throiig.h which we passed was pretty a'( ell 
diversified with hills and rich meadows of Indian corn 
on the banks of the stream, and the farmers were every 
where employed in reaping or cradling* the grain on the 
uplands. As the canal approaches the Little Falls of the 
Mohawk, fifty miles from Sclienectady, the scenery im- 
proves, and has some claims to the picturesque. I had 
heard so much in praise of it that I stepped out of the 
boat at the first lock, half a mile from the village, not only 
for the purpose of viewing but of sketching some of this 
far-famed scenery, and walked past it all, momentarily 
expecting to come upon something excessively grand and 
sublime, so much had I been deceived by exaggerated 
description ! Although very pretty, no part of it can vie 
with Matlock in Derbyshire, lliere is one bend in the 
canal which winds round the rocky mount, and under 
some dark, bleak, impending crags, with the noisy tor- 
rent of the Mohawk washing its base, and the spires of 
the village churches v.ith a fine aqueduct visible through 
the excavation, which would form a pretty sketch, but 
nothing to warrant the overdrawn descriptions given me. 
Having to pass through five locks in succession, we had 
time to cross the aqueduct to the village on the opposite 
side of the river, which is becominq- a manufacturing- town 
of some importance, from the great water-power afforded 
by the Falls. Its progress and prosperity have been con- 
siderably retarded for some years, owing the most valuable 
and useful ground being the property of a gentleman in 
England, who did not dispose of it until last year, when 

* A term used for mowing the wheat -with a scythe, which has 
five_ pieces of wood projecting from the shaft, so as to form a frame 
similar to a person's fingers at the back of the scythe : this cradle re- 
tains the straw after it is cut in the same position as when growing, 
which, being thrown on the ground with a jerk, lies with all the ears 
in one direction, and ready for the binder : long practice is required 
to use the cradle expertly. 



A subaltern's furlough. 209 

it was purchased by a company, who are proceeding ra- 
pidly in the construction of numerous manufactories. 
Large pieces of rock in the river here present a singular 
appearance, from being worn perfectly hollow and round 
like a caldron, the shell or rim, as it were, being reduced 
in many parts to a few inches in thickness. Other rocks 
are bored through in circles with as smooth a surface as 
if they had been chiselled or worked out with an auger. 
These effects are supposed to have been produced by 
small pebbles having lodged in an orifice in the rock, 
and been agitated by the eddies and force of the current, 
until they increased the opening sufficiently to admit lar- 
ger stones, which, in process of time, formed these sin- 
g'ular excavations. 

From the Little Falls, the canal passes through Her- 
kimer or CTerm'in Flats, a fine rich tract of country, with 
farms varying from 150 to 200 acres, at about 100 dollars 
per acre, yielding from 25 to 30 bushels of wheat, or from 
60 to 100 bushels of Indian corn. At Frankfort, a few 
miles further, it does not exceed from 20 to 50 dollars, 
the soil appearing rich and fertile, but in a poor state of 
cultivation. The farming of the Dutch on the Flats forms 
a striking contrast to that of their slovenly neighbours. 
At this last village, "the long level" commences, the canal 
running a distance of sixty-nine miles to the town of Sy- 
racuse, without a sin^fle inter veninsf lock. 

At five o'clock in the afternoon we entered Utica, eighty 
miles from Schenectady, having been twenty-two hours 
on our journey, and stepped from the canal into the United 
States hotel, where we were accommodated with excellent 
rooms. 



210 A subaltern's furlough. 



CHAPTER XV. 



Oh ! what a Fall was there, my cauntrymen. 

Shakspeare. 



Having hired one of the four-wheeled carriages known 
at Philadelphia as a " dearborn," in the eastern States as 
a "carryall," and in Utica as a "wagon," a friend (Mr. B.) 
and myself started at eight o'clock on the 3d of August 
upon an excursion to the Trenton Falls. The road being 
rough and mountainous, and the day excessively hot, we 
pulled up at a small tavern, eight miles from the town, 
to give the horse some water. While I was holding the 
bucket, mine host came out, and after looking on quietly 
for some time without tendering his assistance, he ob- 
served that_ we " had better let "the beast stand in the 
shade a minute or two until it became cool, and then it 
would proceed more cleverly on the journey." I under- 
stood him immediately, and, determining to accept the 
challenge, led the horse into the shade of the house, when 
the following conversation ensued, much to the amuse- 
ment of my companion, who did not at first comprehend 
our host's manoeuvre. 

Landlord. " You are from the southward, I guess." 

Myself. " No — from Utica." 

" Aye, but you don't keep there, I reckon " 

"No, in the southward." 

" Aye, I guessed so; but whereabouts ?" 

" Oh ! south of Washinfyton." 

" Ah ! pretty sickly there now?" 

" No, pretty smart." 

" But there's tarnation little travelling now : last fali 
this here road was quite unpassable, but now I have been 
fixing it myself, expecting company, and no one comes.'' 

" You will have them all here when the cholera panic 
has subsided a little." 

" I don't know that ; I heard a gentleman, who had 
been in the south, say the other day that there was very 
little money there now; the southerners would'nt care a 



A subaltern's fTTRLOUGH. 211 

j5g for the cholera, they'd clear out tarnation soon if they 
had plenty of money to spare; a'int it so?" 

I had now put one foot on the step of our vehicle, but 
mine host was not yet satisfied, so he followed me up 
with — "But you are going to the west, I expect?" 

" Perhaps we may." 

" Aye, you came down the canal." 

" Yes."' 

" That's fine travelling; that's what I like: you push 
along so slick, there's no chance of getting one's neck 
broke as there is aboard those stages on the rough turn- 
pikes ; if the boat sinks, one's only up to one's knees in 
water. You'll see the Falls?" 

" We are going there now ; which is the way ?" So, 
receiving the necessary directions, we wished this 
true specimen of an American pot-house keeper, good 
mOrning, and drove on, subsequently finding his parting 
words prophetic. Though the Yankees are so noto- 
riously inquisitive, yet there is nothing disrespectful in 
their manner ; nor did I ever feel annoyed by their ask- 
ing such prying questions, generally leading them " con- 
siderably on the wrong trail," as they would say, or else, 
having satisfied them, commencing a cross-examination, 
to which they always submitted with good grace. 

After a pleasant ride of fourteen miles, we arrived at 
the hotel, a short distance from the village of Trenton, 
and proceeded immediately to view the Falls, which com- 
mence within 200 yards of the house, though entirely 
concealed from it b}^ a thick intervening forest. To see 
them to advantage, it is necessary to descend a rocky pre- 
cipice nearly 100 feet perpendicular, into the ravine along 
which the dark stream winds its course. Scarcely any 
thing can be conceived more grand or picturesque than 
the first view of the surrounding objects after the visitor 
has gained the rocky, and, at this season, dry bed of the 
winter's torrent. I have seen many falls, but none pos- 
sessing such a variety of scenery or differing so much in 
the formation of the cataract as these ; and of their sub- 
limity but a very faint idea can be conveyed from descrip- 
tion. The impetuous rush of water during successive 
ages has worked a bed for itself through a ridge of lime- 



212 A subaltern'b furlough. 

stone rocks, which extends from the Mohawk to the 
northward as far as the St. Lawrence ; but in several 
places it appears to have encountered a reef of harder 
materials, which has been able to withstand the force of 
the torrent. There are several of these ledges, occupying 
an extent of about two miles, over which the stream is 
precipitated. Of these the High Falls are the finest, be- 
ing 109 feet in height, including a small intervening slope, 
which breaks the perpendicular fall, and, dividing it into 
two cataracts, renders it more picturesque than if falling 
in one unbroken sheet. 

The Americans possess a most singular taste for 
marring the beauty of every place which can boast of 
any thing like scenery, by introducing a bar-room into the 
most romantic and conspicuous spot. Consequently there 
is a little white, painted-wooden shanty perched upon the 
very brow of the High Fall, from which all kinds of li- 
quors are distributed to the Yankee admirers of nature, 
after they have undergone the overpowering fatigue of 
walking 400 yards from the hotel. It proved an insur- 
mountable barrier to the further progress of a large party, 
who h:id docked round me, passing the most candid and 
unconcerned opinions possible upon my efforts at delineat- 
ing the scenery. Numerous fossil organic remains are 
visible in the lofty banks, which bound the ravine ; and 
the formation of the singular holes in the rocks, similar 
to those at the Little Falls of the Mohawk, is here seen 
actually in process. Many are formed by the backwater 
of the rapids. One called the "Rocky Heart," from its 
striking resemblance to the common representation of the 
seat of life, has been made by two of these eddies. The 
water rushing over a slight fall proceeds on its course for 
15 or 20 feet, when arriving at a narrow pass, the bottom 
or point of the heart as it were, it separates in the centre, 
returning back to the Fall on each side of the river's bed, 
and has thus washed away the rock into a circular chasm. 
Adjoining is a natural well, called "Jacob's Kettle," about 
six feet deep, and three in diameter. The bottom is co- 
fered to some depth with round pebbles, which have been 
deposited there during the floods, and been employed in 
forming the kettle. 



A subaltern's rURLOUGH. 213 

The width of the ravine, through which the stream takes 
its course, varies from one to three hundred yards. At 
the lower end, where the bed is formed of a smooth level 
rock, walking is as safe and agreeable as upon any well- 
laid pavement: but at the upper it contracts to a narrow 
pass, and, the rocks rising in a smooth perpendicular mass, 
the passage is rendered rather dangerous ; and few people 
attempt to pass the Rocky Heart, the path not exceeding 
six inches in width, the water being of a pitchy blackness, 
forty feet deep. I explored to the next point beyond, but, 
the scenery appearing much the same, I thought further 
risk unnecessary, especially as turning round upon so small 
a pivot was very inconvenient and difficult* The West 
Canada Creek, after emerging from this ravine, pursues 
its course some miles farther, and joins the Mohawk at the 
viilasre of Flerkimer. 

Having passed some very agreeable hours at this en- 
chanting spot, we again stepped into our dearborn, carryall, 
or wagon, and, turning our backs upon Trenton and its 
delightful scenery, arrived at the summit of a long hill five 
miles from Utica, without any adventures, or incident, 
Avorth recording. Upon gaining this height, the sun was 
drawing nigh to the horizon, and casting a mellowed tint 
over the extensive landscape, which was beautifully inter- 
spersed with all the requisites to form an attractive scene. 
I was about expressing mj admiration, when seeing tlie 
long steep descent down Avhich I, as whip, w^as to guide 
our vehicle, my thoughts were immediately diverted else- 
where, and I observed (having the upset at Lebanon upper- 
most in my imagination) that " I should not like to de- 
scend such a hill in a heavy coach." My companion 
answering that "the Americans despised drag-chains and 
slippers," I was about to exemplify the truth of his remark 
by giving him a full and true account of my misfortunes 
the preceding week, w^hen I felt the carriage pressed too 
much upon the horse, and attempted to check it, but in 
vain ; for, owing to some accident or mistake at the hotel, 
a strap upon the collar of the harness had given away, so 
that the horse, unable to keep the carriage off its legs, b^^ 
came frightened and set off at full gallop, kicking most 
violently, to the imminent danger of our legs Mr. B. lifted 



214 A subaltern's furlough. 

liis upon the seat in the first instance, and then, wisely 
blinking " discretion the better part of valour," lifted his 
whole body out behind (knocking my hat over my eyes in 
the hurry of its movements,) but, not being able to relin- 
quish his hold of the vehicle immediately, he cut up the 
rough road, with his knees, like a plough, for a considerable 
distance; or, as he after wards more classically compared it, 
like Hector dragged by thecarof Achilles round the walls 
of Troy. When freed from his additional weight, I was 
carried along with the rapidity of a whirlwind; the foot- 
board splintering in all directions from the incessant bat- 
tering of the horse's heels. Abroad deep ditch ran upon 
either side of the road, so, perceiving if I attempted to 
overturn myself in either direction I should be dashed 
with great violence upon the ground, and remembering the 
cautious advice Phaeton received from the old p-entleman, 
nis mther, when he drove the fiery car, ''medio tutissimus 
ibis,'' I kept in the middle of the road, pulling hard upon 
tlie reins to prevent the horse falling down. I knew that. 
a serious obstacle opposed me at the foot of the hill, in the 
shape of a narrow bridge over a deep and broad ravine, 
with a deep stream, v/here I might even meet with the fate 
of the above worth)^ himself; so 1 dashed the horse at a 
high rail and fence at a turn of the road, where a tempo- 
rary bridge crossed the ditch. He seemed to compre- 
hend rae ; for over we went, after a vast heaving and roll- 
ing, a kind of tottering doubt whether we should capsize 
or not, which would have ejected any thorough landsman 
from his seat. The strong wall brought us to a sudden 
check. I was from my seat in an instant, at the head of 
the horse, who was striving to scramble over it; but he soon 
desisted, having, like myself, had quite enough of such 
work in the last half mile. Mr. B. was still faraway, peer- 
ing through the clouds of dust, to see what had become of 
me, fearing the result of my rapid descent. He was much 
cut and bruised, as was the horse from kickingthe wagon, 
and vice versa. I alone escaped uninjured, being but a suf- 
ferer in the purse, from the compensation we were obliged 
to make the owner of the steed and vehicle, for injuries 
received. In my case the names of the two places " Leba- 
non Shakers," and " Trenton Falls," are incongruous; they 



A subaltern's furlough. SI5 

should be the " Trenton Shakers,'^ and "^ Lebanon FaJh ;^' 
as such I shall ever remember them, and with them the 
recollection of my shaking in the wagon, and upsetting 
in the coach, wdll always be associated. 

The above accident detained us a few days at Utica, 
Mr. B. being too unwell to proceed on his journey ; but 
the cause could scarcely be regretted, since we had the 
good fortune to make the acquaintance of an eminent 
barrister residing in the town, who had been one of our 
fellow-passengers from Schenectady, and from whom we 
received much kind attention. 

The town or city of Utica, as I believe it is now called, 
occupies a gentle slope, rising to the west, from the banks 
of the Mohawk, and until the commencement of the canal 
was an inconsiderable place, with a population of aboul 
3000. Since the completion of that Avork, it has aug- 
mented to 10,000 souls, and is daily on the increase. The 
line of canal, which eight years since was on the outskirts, 
now passes directly through the centre of the city, giving 
it a pleasing appearance, to which the innumerable wooden 
bridges vvith their light open railing greatly contribute. 
The inhabitants are well aware of its rising importance, 
predicting already that the State Government will be re- 
moved from Albany, and that the future laws will emanate 
from their capitol, whose site they have marked out in a 
square at the upper end of the city, on a rising eminence, 
whence its dome will be seen by the surrounding country 
for forty miles. The streets are also laid out in a style 
befitting the capital of the most populous State in th€ 
Union. As a central situation it is more convenient than 
Albany, which is on the very confines of the State, and 
three hundred miles from the inhabitants of the westein 
parts of it. A stranger, seeing no manufactories or large 
mercantile establishments in Utica, finds it difficult to ac- 
count for its rapid increase, until he discovers that every 
stream from the neighbouring hills is covered with such 
speculations, and the margin of every creek is peopled. 
The goods being transported from the town, it derives 
all the benefit, without any of the inconvenience, arising 
from numerous manufactories. 

At Whitesborough, in the vicinity of the city, is the 



^16 A subaltern's furlough. 

singular but laudable " Oneida Institution of Science and 
Industry," which, similar to some institutions in Swit- 
zerland, combines learning with manual labour. It was 
first established by a clergyman in bad health, who, open- 
ing a small school ten years since, discovered that, by the 
pupils' working for a few hours daily, they earned suiR- 
cient money to defray the expense of their education. 
Since that time it has been much encouraged and had 
sfeveral benefactors. There is a farm, containing upwards 
of one hundred acres, attached to it, upon which the 
students may be seen working for three or four hours 
daily ; and two years' produce will pay their board for 
that time. It is principally intended for those designed 
for the Church, but some are also educated for other pro- 
fessions. The merit of the institution, independently of 
that derived from the system, is, that young men of ta- 
lent may obtain an education here who cannot afford to 
go to more expensive establishments. Upon the whole, 
from the prevalence of mercantile pursuits, there are but 
few places for classical education in the States, compar- 
ed with England. 

On Sunday, the 5th of August, we attended divine ser- 
vice at the Dutch Reformed Protestant Church, the min- 
ister of which, Mr. Bethune, a Scotch gentleman, is in high 
repute as aneloquent and a powerful preacher. We were 
much pleased with his manner which was that of the majo- 
rity of American ecclesiastics, and preferred itto thatofthe 
English. The sermon being delivered in a more familiar 
and colloquial style, and with great earnestness of man- 
ner, was well calculated to rivet the attention of the con- 
gregation. In America the compact is between the con- 
gregation and minister, as between master and servant, or 
tradesman and customer, so long as they agree and suit 
each other. The clergyman's salary in small towns is ge- 
nerally 1000,dollars (210Z.) per annum, which is sufficient 
for people who are expected to debar themselves the active 
pursuits of the rest of mankind. But in cities and popu- 
lous places, where the duty is more severe, it varies from 
1500 to 2500, which is raised by a tax upon the congre- 
gation, or (as in New-York) from grants of land made 
prior to the Revolution. In a Pre£b}"terian Church, which 



A subaltern's furlough. 317 

we attended in the afternoon, the pews were originally 
sold at 280 each, and the annual tax was 19 dollars and 
50 cents, or 41. sterling, the organist and leader of the 
orchestra alone receiving small salaries, in addition to the 
minister. The floor of this church was on an inclined 
plane, so that each pew was more elevated than the one in. 
front, the pulpit being under the organ-loft at the lower 
end of the building. After service, we visited the Sun- 
day Bchool on the ground-floor under the church, where, 
from the minister having made frequent allusions to 
" Samuel James Mills, the Founder of Sabbath Schools," 
we expected to see one of a superior order, but were dis- 
appointed. There seemed great room for improvement. 
The school consisted of about 180 boys, and a voluntary 
teacher to each class of six or eight boys. Before we 
departed, the superintendant (an Editor of a Newspaper) 
requested us to address the children, but appeared satisfied 
with an answer, that " our qualifications were not in that 
line." For my own part, I was rather at a loss to com- 
prehend his meaning, until he rose and delivered a long 
extempore prayer for the prosperity of the school. 

The State of New- York has a permanent school-fund, 
of the enormous amount of a million and a half of dollars, 
which originally arose from the sale of land ; and the pro- 
ceeds, being .laid out to interest, in time accumulated to so 
large a sum that the annual distribution is now 120,000 
dollars, and as much more is raised in the State by contri- 
butions; so that nearly a quarter of a million is yearly 
expended by this one State in promoting knowledge 
amongst the people, very few of whom have not received 
a useful education. Connecticut is the only State in the 
Union which possesses the same powerful means: its fund 
arose from a vague charter granted by the King of Eng- 
land, soon after the establishment of the American colo- 
nies, to Lord Say and Seie and Lord Brook in 1631, by 
which the State of Connecticut w^as bounded, east by the 
Naraganset River, south by Long Island Sound, north by 
Massachusetts, and extended west to the Pacific Ocean. 
By this document it claimed the right of extending its 
rule over tracts of land which were unexplored at the time 
the charter was granted, and which included a consider- 

VCL. L — T. 



218 A subaltern's FURLdUCiHi 

able portion of Pennsylvania and New- York. These two 
States resisted the claim, hut compromised the matter 
after the Reyolution, by obtaining for Connecticnt the 
grant of certain lands in Ohio, which, being sold, produced 
the sum of 1,200,000 dollars. This sum was, in the first 
instance, to be appropriated for the propagation of the 
Gospel, but subsequently was formed into a school-fund ; 
and thus one of the smallest States in the Union distri- 
butes an annual sum amongst the several districts, for the 
support of education, considerably exceeding the State 
tax on the inhabitants; and the most singular instance is 
presented of a Government, after all its expenses have 
been defrayed, returning to the citizens more than the 
amount they have been taxed. In those districts which 
receive assistance from this fund, it is required that the 
same amount should be raised by contribution. New- 
York imitated Connecticut in adopting the same system, 
and ordaining that the proceeds of all unsold or unap- 
propriated lands should be added to the school-fund, which 
will increase it at least to the amount of another million of 
dollars. In Massachusetts much attention is paid to edu- 
cation, and numerous schools are established throughout 
all the New-England States, the necessary funds being 
annually raised in districts. 

On the 6th of August we proceeded on our journey 
through New Hartford, a small village four miles from 
Utica, and two or three from Hamilton College, incorpo- 
rated in 1821, and so called after the unfortunate general 
We obtained a good view of its white buildings, pleasantly 
situated on a rising ground above the village of Clinton. 
We arrived at the manufacturing village of Manchester, 
nine miles from Utica, in an hour and ten minutes, being 
at the quickest rate we had yet travelled upon American 
turnpikes, and accordingly anticipated a continuation of 
such rapid progress ; but were soon undeceived, for the 
innkeeper, not expecting the mail so soon, had made no 
preparations for breakfast, and three quarters of an hour 
elapsed before the beefsteaks and coffee made their appear- 
ance upon the table. At the village of Oneida Castle we 
obtained the first sight of some Tuscarora Indians, who 
were standing by the road-side, wrapt up in their blankets, 



A subaltern's furlough. 219 

though a burning sun was shining, looking composedly, 
and apparently without curiosity, at the coach as it whirled 
along. There was an extensive settlement of log huts 
with an Episcopal Church belonging to the tribe, on a 
plain half a mile from the turnpike ; and a circular grove 
of trees where their councils were formerly held, and 
where they now receive their annual allowance from the 
State, to which all land they wish to dispose of must be 
sold, not having the power to grant a title-deed to indivi- 
duals. During the last year, fifty of the tribe with their 
Episcopalian Pastor, a man of liberal education, having 
sold their lands, migrated to Green Bay on Lake Michigan. 
In the summer season their time is employed in tilling 
the ground in the Reservation, or in cutting fuel from 
the extensive forest in rear of their village. In winter 
many of them proceed to the hunting grounds three or 
four hundred miles in the west^ where they collect an 
abundance of skins, from the sale of which they might 
realize a considerable sum of money ; but like all savages, 
or semi-barbarians, they are much addicted to drink, and 
barter their hardly -gained spoils for a small quantity of 
spirituous liquors. Twenty-five miles farther, at Onon- 
daga Hollow, where there is a tribe of that name, some 
women came up to the coach, offering small articles of 
their own manufacture for sale ; they could speak English 
very fluently, as can most of the Indians in those tribes 
which have much intercourse with the "pale faces." The 
frontier war, which had but lately broken out, was much 
deprecated by most Americans, who asserted that their Go- 
vernment was the aggressor. To a foreigner the American 
policy towards the Indians appears most cruel and inhu- 
man, every possible advantage being taken to dispossess 
the rightful owners of the soil of their property. The 
Indian character is noble and generous, when well treated, 
but, when goaded as they have been to desperation, it is 
no wonder that their treatment of the white prisoners 
who fall into their hands should be barbarous. Ameri- 
cans have been found to retaliate such cruelties ; and the 
public prints at this time were filled with late accounts of 
another "glorious victory," in which some volunteers or 
militia men had brought three scalps into camp ! 



220 A subaltern's furlough. 

The towns of Onondaga Hollow and Onondaga Hill, 
were of some importance during the late war, and rivals in 
growth and prosperity, being situated in a grain country, 
and the great deposits of corn and other requisites for the 
army on the frontier. But, alas ! their day has gone by; 
the sunshine of their greatness and prosperity is for erer 
overclouded. The houses are almost tenantless, and of 
the arsenal nothing is left but the name ; the canal, run- 
ning within three miles, gave them the coup de grace. The 
sooner the road is diverted from the present route the more 
secure will the lives of all travellers become ] for of all 
hilla to ascend or descend the one near Onondaga Hollow 
is the most frightful. The extensive and fine view of 
Syracuse, Salina with its salt vats, Onondaga Lake, the 
town of Liverpool, with the thickly wooded country be- 
tween it and Oneida Lake in the extreme distance, 
scarcely compensate for the risk of ascending it in a 
heavy coach. 

Our progress was much delayed by the delivery of 
the mail bag at every small hamlet on the road. The 
letters in America, instead of being put into separate 
mgs for each town as in England, are carried in oilG 
huge leather case, which the postmaster is allowed to 
detain ten minutes, so that he may pick his letters out 
of the general mass. The coachman (there being no 
guard) drives up to the office, sometimes a small tavern, 
and throws the bag, about the size of a flour sack, upon 
the hard pavement, or muddy road as most convenient ; it 
is then trailed along into the house, and, being unlocked, 
tshe lower end is elevated, and out tumble all the letters, 
newspapers, and pamphlets, in a heap upon the floor. 
At the little village of Lenox, I had the curiosity to 
look into the bar for the purpose of seeing the mode of 
sorting letters, and witnessed a scene which could never 
an«wer in any other country. The sorters consisted of an 
old grey-headed man, at least seventy five years of age, an 
old woman, "with spectacles on nose," the old gentle- 
man's equal in point of years, and a great, fat, ruddy- 
faced damsel of twenty-five, backed by half a dozen dirty 
little barefooted urchins, who were all down upon their 
knees on the floor, overhauling the huge pile before 



A jsubaltern's furlough. 22S 

them, flinging those letters which were for their office 
into a distant corner of the room, amongst sundry wet 
mops, brushes, molasses barrels, &c.; and those which 
were for other towns on our route were again bagged in 
the same gentle style, part having to undergo the same 
process every fifth mile of our day's journey, excepting 
at the office at Onondaga Hill, where the postmaster, be- 
ing an attorney-at-law, managed to detain us only two 
minutes. Many of these offices, costing the Government 
an annual sum of 200 or 300 dollars for the postmaster's 
salary, do not receive half that amount in letters. One 
man assured me that sometimes his month's receipts did 
not exceed six dollars. No revenue being required 
from the post-office establishment, the offices in large 
towns furnish funds for extending the mail line of com- 
munication. The surplus funds of that at New- York 
are enormous ; but, for the last three year», the expendi- 
ture upon the mails has much exceeded the receipts 
throughout the States. In 1700, there were only serenty- 
five post-offices; at this time, there are 9000, and il5,0u{^ 
miles of mail communication ; and the postage on letters 
from Boston to Baltimore, a distance little under 400 
miles, is only 9d. sterling. 

At Marcellus the coach stopped at an inn, of which 
the landlord seemed quite an original. He was sitting 
in the bar, without his coat and neckcloth, reading a 
newspaper, and his feet stretched half across the top of 
the table, round which sev^eral of hi« guest.'? were enjoy- 
ing "a drink ^^ and a mouthful of the Virginia weed. 
Hearing one of the passengers address him by the title 
of "Doctor," I observed " he was an elegant specimen 
of a medical man." " Ah, but," said my fellow-travel- 
Itr, *' he's one of the smartest physicians in the State, 
I'll assure you:" certainly not a literal description, ac- 
cording to the English acceptation of the word ; for he 
was one of the shabbiest-looking men I ever cast eyes on. 
At sunset, we reached the beautiful little village of Ska- 
neateles, situated at the head of a romantic lake, sixteen 
miles long and nearly two wide, of the same name. 
While delayed here for some time to " shift horses," 
and for the mail to undergo another examination, the 



:^22 k subaltern's furlough. 

passengers stood on the margin of the lake, admiring: its 
clear and unruffled surface, save here and there where a 
slight ripple was caused by the slow movement of one 
or two small scullers, as they changed their fishing 
berth for some spot which would appear more favourable 
for their diversion. Gardens and cultivated fields ex- 
tended to the water's edge, and numerous neat white 
houses scattered about upon the range of low hills orna- 
mented either bank. While gazing on its beauties, a 
thunder-storm suddenly burst over us, with a heavy 
squall of wind ; and ere we could regain the coach the 
whole scene was changed. The lake was now perfectly 
black, and its disturbed surface with a small and troubled 
ripple, occasioned by the violent gust, formed a strong and 
somewhat unpleasing contrast to its late placid and mild 
appearance. 

At half-past eight we arrived at the American hotel in 
Auburn, rejoiced that the fatigues of the day were over, 
having had scarcely 300 yards of level ground during 
the last twenty miles. We had passed, too, through the 
strangest medley of named towns imaginable. It ap- 
peared almost as if the founders had collected them from 
all quarters of the globe indifferently, discarding many 
of the fine-sounding, significant, old Indian names, and 
substituting some gleaned from ancient Greece or Italy, 
interspersed with one from Cockney land, or perhaps a 
genuine Yankeeism. The following is the correct 
order in which we saw the towns during our journey 
of this day. Utica, New Hartford, Manchester, Canes- 
tota, Quality Hill, Chitteningo, Manlius, Jamesville, 
Onondaga, Syracuse, Liverpool, Marcellus, Skaneateles, 
Auburn. 



END OF VOL. L 



SUBALTERN'S FURLOUGH: 

k 

DESCRIPTIVE OF SCENES IN VARIOUS PARTS 

\ OF THE 

UNITED STATES, 

UPPER Ai\d lower CANADA, NEW-BRUNSWICK, 

\ 

\ AND 

NOVA SCOTIA, 

K 

ravRiau r\ zz summer and actumm of 1852. 
BY E. T. gOKE, 

LIEVrrEKANTV OF THE 45TH BEGIMBTrr. 

\ 

Wand'ring from clime to O-dime observant stiay'd, 
Their maraiers noted, and 'their states survey'd 

' , POPK. 

IN TWO V O L U ^.K: E s 
VOL. II, 
\ 



NEW-YORK 



PUBLISHED BY J. & J. HARPER, 

NO. 82, CLIFF-STREET. 

AND* SOJ.O BV THfi PRINCIPAL BOOKSELLERS THKUl'(; ftOUT 

THE UNITED STATES 



M DCCC XXXHI. 



(.■V-. \ I. 



. a 
or 



.el 



/it 

t 



xS 

rr 



it 



j^' 



tC 






iT 



CONTENTS OF VOL. IL 



■v^; CHAP. I. PAG If 

Auburn Prison — Cayuga Lake — Ithaca — Falls — Violent 
Storm — Journey of Disasters 1 — 12 

CHAP. II. 

Seneca Lake — Fulton — Jemima Wilkinson — Revolution- 
ary Grants — Geneva — Labourers' Wages — Rochester 
— Death of Patch — Patient Traveller — The Riclge-road 
— Lockport— Fine Works— Buffalo— Tribe of Indians . 1 3—27 

CHAP. III. 

Cross the Niagara-Chippewa Battle Ground-Old Squaw's 
perilous Descent — Loss of a Vessel — Walk under the 
falling sheet of Water — Levelling System — City of the 
Falls — Bridge over the Rapids — Burning Spring — De- 
vil's Hole — Rapid Mode of Sight-seeing — Brock'sMonu- 
ment — Fort George 28 — 4G 

CHAP. IV. 

Arrive at York — Emigrants, miserable Condition of — 
Brandt — Lake Ontario — Kingston — Rideau Canal — 
Hulks — Lake of the thousand Isles — Prescott — Meeting 
unceremoniously Dispersed — History of a Yankee Set- 
tler — Descend the Rapids — Irish Emigrant — Irroquois 
Indians — Montreal — Charcoal Doctor 47 — 60 

CHAP. V. 

Island of Montreal— St. Helen's— Cathedral— Convent- 
Election Riots — Disaffection of the French Canadians — 
Disturbed night — Steamers — (Quebec — Cape Diamond 
— Wolfe and Montcalm — Jesuit's Barracks — Singular 
Inscription— Falls of Montmorenci 61~7S 

CHAP. VL 

Descend the St. Lawrence — Pleasures and Miseries of a 
Water Excursion — Yankee Pedlar — Night's Lodging — 
Journey across the Temiscouta Portage — Royal Mail — 
Brother Jonathan's Thorn — Hospitable Settler — Perse- 
vering Veteran — ^Narrow Escape — Cheating Landlord 
—Militia Captain— Grand Falls—Crowded Bed- 
Reach Fredericton 74 — 94 



IT CONTENTS. 

CHAP. VII. P^aE 

Government House— College—Spirit of Equality— Lum- 
berers — Gluit-rents — Roads — Monsieur Audubon — Mi- 
litia — Disputed Boundary 95 104 

CHAP. VIII. 

Proceed down the St. John's— Improvements— Exported 
Timber — Falls of St. John — Bay of Fundy— Digby 
Strait — Annapolis — Second-hand Coach — Garrulous 
Old Woman — Cape Blow-me-down — Windsor College 
— Furious Tides— duality of Land— Mr. Uniacke — 
Napoleon — Calamitous Fire — Halifax 105 120 

CHAP. IX. 

Races— Mason's Hall — Harbour— Citadel — College- 
Churches— Theatre— Prince's Lodge— Shubenacadie 
Canal— Negroes— American Forests — Mr. Prescott— 
Wellington Dyke — Learned Coachman 121— 13* 

CHAP. X. 

Fog rising— Eastport-Cool Shop-boy— St. Andrew's 
Light-house— Rough Sailor— Interesting discussion- 
Gale of Wind— Boston— Wallack— Discontented Yan- 
kee— Falls on the Spicket Creek— Six-in-hand— Con- 
cord — Prison — Lake Winnipiscogee — Fat Passenger — 
Lamp Trimming 133—144 

CHAP. XL 

Bartlett— Cold Weather— Notch of the White Moun- 
tains — Destruction of the WilleyFamily — Avalanches 
of earth — Landlord's Distress — Disappointment — As- 
cend Mount Washington I45 — 153 

CHAP. XII. 

Wet Morning— Weather-bound Travellers— Old Man of 
the Mountain — Colonel and Road Surveyor— Montpe- 
lier — Green Mountains — Burlington — Politicians — 
Murder of Miss M'Crae— Drunken Coachman— pas- 
sage of the Hudson — West Point — Military Academy 
— Capture of Andre— Arrive at New York— Banks o'f 
Newfoundland — Land at Liverpool 154 — 171 

APPENDIX, No. I. 
Declaration of Independence 173—183 

APPENDIX, No. II. 
Certificate of Montgomery's Interment 164 

APPENDIX, No. III. 
Capture and Death of Andr^ 186 



SUBALTERN'S FURLOUGH. 



CHAPTER I. 



Sweet Auburn ! 

* * * * :ii * 

Dear lovely bow'rs of innocence and ease. 

Goldsmith. 

For those rebellious here their pris'n ordained. 

Milton. 

The most pernicious infection, next the plagae, is the smell of 
the jail, where prisoners have been long and close kept. 

Bacon. 

Hearing that the board of health had issued an order 
that no visitors should be admitted into the prison until 
the cholera had subsided, a precaution taken in conse- 
quence of its having broken out in the Sing-Sing prison 
on the Hudson, we much feared that wc should be dis- 
appointed in not attaining the object for which we had 
visited Auburn; fortunately, however, Mv. B. had in- 
troductory letters to Dr. Richards, president of the 
Theological Seminary, through whose interest we ob- 
tained an order for admittance at mid-day on the 7th of 
August. 

The prison is situated on the outskirts of the village, 
surrounded by a wall 2000 feet in extent, varying in 
height from 20 to 35 feet, according to the situation of 
the shops in which the convicts are employed. The cells 
where they are confined during the night have a singu- 
lar appearance (something like a large pigeon box, or 

VOL. II. A. 



2 A SUBALTEEN'S FXJiaOUGH. 

honey-comb), being in five stories, with galleries, and the 
windows in an outer wall at the distance of five or six 
feet from them, so that no convict can attempt effecting 
his escape through their medium. It is, in fact, a house 
within a house. Each prisoner has a separate cell 7 
feet in length, 7 in height, by 3 1-2 in width, with a 
small shelf for holding his bible, and a canvass cot, 
which, in the day time, is reared up against the wall, 
and, when lowered down at night, rests upon a small 
ledge, and covers the whole extent of the cell. A strong 
grated door admits a free circulation of air, and the works 
of the lock are so contrived as to be two feet from the 
door, and entirely out of a convict's reach, if he even 
succeeded in breaking one of the iron bars so as to admit 
a passage for his arm. A keeper always patrolling the 
galleries during the night with cloth shoes acts as a 
check upon the prisoners holding any discourse. The 
building was perfectly clean, and free from that tainted 
atmosphere which generally pervades a prison, the cells 
being white- washed once a fortnight, as a preventive 
against the cholera, though when there is no necessity 
for such a precaution they are thus cleansed only from 
five to six times during the warm season. 

From the cells we proceeded into an open square, formed 
by the keeper's house, prisoner's apartments, and work- 
shops, where a part of the convicts were employed in 
stone-cutting, and making an addition to the building of 
another fiVe-story row of cells, to be erected in the place 
of a wing constructed upon the old principle of confining 
a certain number of prisoners in one large room, by 
which means they had free intercourse with one another, 
a system found very injurious to their reformation. It 
was almost impossible to imagine ourselves in a prison 
amongst a set of hardened desperadoes, when walking 
through the shops where they were working with an 
alacrity and attention to their business which were truly 
surprising. Every trade has its own particular shop, 
with one keeper as a superintendent ; and here the good 
effects of discipline are seen. In the blacksmith's shops, 
for instance, were forty or fifty athletic men wielding 
their sledge hammers with the power of the Cyclops of 



A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 3 

old, and all armed with weapons which, in one minute, 
would shiver the strongest barrier to atoms ; yet only 
one superintendent was with them, sitting at his ease upon 
a chair ; and not any instance is upon record of an at- 
tempt at making a forcible escape. The prisoners are 
not allowed, upon any pretence, to speak to one another, 
and only on business to a turnkey, who can easily ob- 
serve if any conversation takes place, as they are gene- 
rally placed with their faces in the same direction. The 
weavers were the most numerous body, there being 
nearly one hundred sitting at their looms in a row, and 
forty tailors, whose occupation is considered the most 
unhealthy, from the position requisite for the perform- 
ance of their work. They are not permitted to look at 
any stranger who enters the room ; but I observed se- 
veral squinting at us out of the corners of their eyes 
when the keeper's back was turned. The most superior 
specimens of workmanship, of every description, are 
turned out of these shops, and are contracted for by 
merchants and store-keepers residing in Auburn ; a sys- 
tern most injurious to the industrious mechanic, who can- 
not make a livelihood in the vicinity of the prison, being 
underworked by the convicts, whose labour is contracted 
for at various sums from 25 to 50 cents, (one to two shil- 
lings) per diem, the tailors at the former sum ; those 
trades which derive assistance from a saw-mill, turning- 
machine, &;c., which are worked by water (introduced 
from a stream that washes the southern wall of the pri- 
son) at 30, tool-makers at 40, and blacksmiths at 50 
cents a day. A few invalids and convalescent convicts 
are employed in winding at 15 cents. There were only 
two stocking makers, who were employed solely in 
working for the convicts. 
The contractors are not even permitted to give any 
orders to the workmen, and any instructions they wish 
to give are through the mechanic turnkey who superin- 
tends each shop. In any instance where the latter may 
not be acquainted with the trade, the contractor may 
give the necessary directions in his presence. The looms, 
jennies, tools, &c., appeared throughout the prison in 
the highest order, and business was carried on in each 



4 A SUBALTERN'S FURLOUGH. 

shop in a more workmanlike style than without the walls. 
The morning work commences at six o'clock in summer, 
breakfast between seven and eight, dinner at twelve 
(half an hour being allowed for each), and the labours 
of the day cease at six in the evening. The prisoners, 
being formed into as many companies as there are gal- 
leries of cells, are marched to them with the lock-step in 
the most orderly manner, eacn man inclining his face 
towards the keepers who accompany them, so that he 
may be observed, if he attempts to speak. As he passes 
through the mess-room, adjoining the kitchen, he stoops 
slightly, and taking up his supper, without breaking the 
line of march, enters his cell for the night, being locked 
in by the turnkey of the gallery. The mess-room was 
particularly clean, v/ith platters and tin cans neatly ar- 
ranged on wooden tables, so narrow that the convicts 
sit only on one side of them, with their faces in the same 
direction. They are waited upon by some of their fel- 
low-prisoners ; and, in case any one has more food than 
he requires, he raises his right hand, when a portion is 
taken from his plate and given to some one who elevates 
his left hand in token he has insufficient. The rations 
are ample, being 10 oz. of wheat, 10 oz. of Indian meal, 
14 oz. of beef or 12 of pork ; with 2 1-2 bushels ofpota- 
toes to every hundred rations, and half a gill of molasses 
per man, which is added to the mush, a kind of hasty 
pudding made of Indian meal, and boiled in coppers. The 
cooks were employed at this article of food when we vi- 
sited the kitchen. I tasted some, and should imagine it 
to be very wholesome and nutritious. The bread was 
heavy and sad, but it had a good flavour. If a convict 
is unruly, or discovered speaking, he receives summary 
punishment, by having a certain number of stripes with 
a cane on his back. Sueh a measure is, however, but 
seldom required. A false wall or passage round each 
room, with slits at intervals, through which a keeper 
may look unperceived, and where he stations himself if 
he suspects a convict, acts as an excellent check upon 
any conversation. I peeped through them into various 
shops ; and the prisoners were busily employed in dead 
silence, when the keeper was at the distance of 100 feet. 



subaltern's FimLOUGH. 



The work appears to conduce much to their health, 
there being only six in the hospital, out of 667 prisoners ; 
and a few days previously there had not been a single 
patient. Visitors are not admitted either into the hos- 
pital, which is in an upper story of the prison, or into the 
women's apartment, who are all confined together and 
work but Uttle, as no compulsion could be used towards 
them, and, as to talking, all the art of man could avail 
nothing for its prevention. Altogether the prison is a 
most interesting sight, and should be visited by all tra- 
vellers. A considerable revenue now arises from it to 
the State, so that convicts, instead of being an expense 
as formerly, are here a profit. Many who enter with- 
out any trade are taught one, by which, when released, 
they may gain an honest and ample livelihood ; and 
numbers who have been sent into the world again have 
thoroughly reformed their former vicious habits. We 
saw one poor man, a sailor, who had become deranged 
since his imprisonment, and afler a partial recovery was 
allowed to do what he pleased with regard to work. He 
had made several large models of ships, which stood in 
the square completely rigged; and another man, who 
had the use of one hand only, employed his time in carv- 
ing rude figures of the most grotesque kind, afterwards 
gilding or paintng them. No one, in short, was allowed 
to be completely idle. The Government frequently par- 
dons those who appear to have been misled, and by their 
conduct show an inclination to become good citizens ; 
and only for very serious offences are any sentenced to 
imprisonment for life, the majority being for periods of 
five and seven years. The entire establishment is su- 
perintended by a governor, called " Agent and Keeper," 
with a salary of 1000 dollars, a deputy keeper at 600, 
and the other keepers 350 each ; about forty officers are 
employed as keepers, turnkeys, guards, &c. When the 
prison is open for the admission of visitors (which was 
the case always until the appearance of the cholera in 
the State,j 25 cents (one shilling) is charged for each 
person. The keeper said that the convicts felt deeply 
the loss of their chewing tobacco, which is not permitted 
within the walls of the prison, and to which excellent re- 

A* 



6 A StTBALTEEN's FtTELOtTGH 

gulation much of the cleanliness is owing. From the 
inspector's report it appears that " the frequency of par- 
dons has arisen principally from the want of room in the 
prison, by the rapid accumulation of convicts ;" and it 
is much to be regretted that ten or twelve acres were not 
enclosed within the wall in place of three or four, so that 
the building might be increased to any extent. 

I think the steady and excellent behaviour of the pri- 
soners may arise, in a great measure, from so many of 
them being confined for a short space of time, two-thirds 
being sentenced to a period not exceeding seven years. 
There is a Sunday school, which those only attend who 
wish it ; and they are instructed gratuitously by the 
young men of the town and the Theological Seminary. 
The Chaplain takes opportunities of visiting them in their 
cells after divine service on that day, also in the hos- 
pital, and whenever time will allow, to afford them reli- 
gious instruction, and give advice with regard to their 
future conduct. One of the main objects to be gained is 
to wean them from intemperance, a habit which the 
prison discipline has entirely eradicated from most de- 
termined drunkards, who have thus been restored to the 
world as sober and industrious men. 

By comparing the returns from the Auburn prison with 
those furnished by other penitentiaries and gaols in the 
Union, the salutary effects of the system above detailed 
over that practised where solitary confinement night and 
day is enforced without work, and over any other mode 
of punishment as yet devised, have been most satisfac- 
torily proved. If I might venture to propose any amend- 
ment in the system, it would be to make a larger pecu- 
niary allowance than the present one (two dollars, I 
think) to the liberated prisoners ; as instances are on re- 
cord of men having been guilty of theft, a few days after 
their dismissal, from actual want. 

The village of Auburn itself is tastefully built, within 
two miles of the Owasca Lake, whose outlet washes the 
prison wall. Its rapid rise is somewhat retarded by the 
quantity of work turned out by the convicts ; yet at the 
same time a large sum of money is necessarily in cir- 
culation amongst the contractors for furnishing rations 



A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 7 

(which are at the rate of about 21 dollars (4/. 7s. Qd.) 
per annum, each prisoner), and for payment of the arti- 
cles received from the prison, which are retailed at a 
great per centage. 

Proceeding to the village of Cayuga, situated near the 
northern extremity of a lake of the same name, we em- 
barked in a steamer which plies upon the lake, and 
crossed to the opposite side, touching for some more pas- 
sengers at a village connected with Cayuga by a bridge 
exceeding a mile in length, over which the western road 
passes. The extreme length of the lake is 40 miles by 
2 at its greatest breadth. The scenery is tame and un- 
interesting, until towards the southern end, when it as- 
sumes a more pleasing appearance, the banks becoming 
high and craggy in some places, and in others cultivated 
to the waters's edge. But throughout there is an over- 
powering quantity of dense forest, with an intervening 
space of eight or ten miles between villages. For the 
last few miles, the face of the country presented a sin- 
gular appearance, being broken every hundred yards, 
or thereabouts, with narrow and deep ravines, formed by 
the heavy rush of water from the hills in the spring of 
the year. In some, the rock was rugged and bare ; in 
others the grass had sprung up again, or, where the 
ground tnore easily yielded to the force of the torrent, 
there were long and heavy undulations, like the swelling 
of the sea. 

At the head of the lake, entering a coach again, after 
a drive of two miles across a plain which had once formed 
part of the lake, we arrived at the pretty town of Ithaca, 
containing 3300 inhabitants, surrounded on three jsides 
by hille varying from 600 to 800 feet in height, with 
their slopes and summits partially cleared and cultivated. 
The plain between the town and the lake is so densely 
covered with forest that the water is not visible from the 
former ; and in many places it is so boggy and unsound 
that no houses can be built upon it. Two adjoining 
squares in the town, encircled with a wooden railing and 
a grove of trees, are quite occupied by churches, there 
not being fewer than seven of them. The Clinton House, 
in the vicinity of those squares, at which we put up, is 



O A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 

one of the handsomest buildings of the kind in the States, 
but its bar-room is one of the dirtiest. 

There are many factories and mills in and about Itha- 
ca, on the small streams which pour their waters into 
the lake. A rivulet within a mile of the town forms two 
of the prettiest Falls imaginable. The lower one, about 
80 feet in height, falling over a series of small rocky 
ledges, appears like so many flakes of snow upon the 
dark masses of stone ; and, where the sun strikes upon 
the foam, it glitters like the sparkhng frost on a Decem- 
ber's morn, after the preceding day's thaw. The other 
Fall, 200 yards higher up the hill, exhibits more water ; 
but the fall is not quite so high, nearly one-third of the 
stream being diverted through a tunnel 00 yards long in 
the solid rock, above the lower Fall, for the purpose of 
turning several mill-wheels ; and in course of time the 
latter cataract will be reduced to a few gallons per 
minute, like the Passaic at Patterson. In our land of 
small rivers, the cascade formed by the quantity of water 
conveyed to the mills would be considered of some mag- 
nitude, and an object of no small interest. These Falls 
certainly vie with those at Trenton in point of beauty, 
though so very dissimilar in their formation ; the latter 
are almost subterraneous, while the former rush over the 
brow of a hill, between large impending crags, crowned 
with thick dark foliage, with scarcely a passage worn 
down the rocky ledge for their foaming waters. Like 
Trenton, too, they have acquired a melancholy interest 
from similar causes ; a highly accomplished young lady 
being drowned at each place within these few years, 
when visiting the Falls in company with their friends 
and relatives. 

Not wishing to return up Cayuga Lake, and in fact 
having made a point of never returning by the same road 
when it could be avoided, we hired a carriage with two 
excellent horses, and at a quarter to three in the after- 
noon, on the 9th of August, departed from Ithaca, as- 
cending a steep and long hill for two or three miles. 
While enjoying a m.ost extensive and charming prospect 
from the summit, we encountered one of the heaviest 
storms of wind and rain I ever experienced. After strug- 



A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 9 

gling against it for a quarter of an hour, we succeeded 
in gaining an open shed by the road side, already filled 
with half-drowned pedestrians and equestrians, who were 
seeking shelter from the pitiless pollings of the storm. 
Such an arrival as ours, with a carriage loaded with 
heavy trunks, a pile of carpet bags and hat-boxes, with 
umbrellas, water-proof cloaks, and great coats innumer- 
able, would have attracted the curiosity of less inquisitive 
people than thorough-bred Yankees. Five or six inmates 
of the shed busied themselves with examining the ivory 
Chinese handle of Mr. B.'s umbrella ; and a person, 
whom they designated as " Doctor," dressed in a thread- 
bare, shabby-genteel, frock coat, of blue cloth, with a 
collar originally black velvet, but which, by wear and 
tear of weather, had been transformed into a nondescript 
colour, observed that *' they carved cleverly in New 
York." The patent leather hat-box soon fixed their 
attention, and, my answer not satisfying them that it was 
not made of wood, they took it out of the carriage and 
minutely inspected it both within and without. The pa- 
tent boxes of the carriage wheels next became subjects. 
for their conjectures and guesses ; they had evidently 
seen none before. At this time we were joined by a most 
consequential person, — the landlord of an adjoining ta- 
vern, whose curiosity had been excited by the crowd in 
his shed* Some one asked him whether he had ever 
seen such " mortal curious things in a carriage before ;" 
he answered, " Yes ;" and just glancing at one of the 
fore wheels, " but these are those poor Yankee things ; 
I have been a teaming these fifteen years, and would 
never wear one of them ;" then turning to a hind wheel, 
" why here, this box is clear gone, the wheel will come 
off the first heavy lurch you have, and you'll be cast 
adrift." For once, curiosity proved of service, it being 
very evident that the first heavy joh would throw the 
wheel from the carriage. Another by-stander, a black- 
smith, and old weather-beaten man of sixty, whom the 
inn-keeper addressed as " Uncle Jack," said he would 
render it secure in five minutes, and carried the box away 
to his forge, which was " but a few rods up the road." 
The rain had now subsided, though we were still threat-. 



10 A subaltern's furlough. 

ened by thick dark clouds. The doctor and a compa- 
nion, one of thesteam-brethren also, took their departure 
on their poor and sorry animals, with their small black 
saddle-bags stowed with phials and cayenne pepper. 
The pedestrians commenced their wet and floundering 
journey anew through mud and mire ; the landlord re- 
turned to his bar, and we alone were left to await " Uncle 
Jack's" pleasure, who spun out his five minutes to three 
quarters of an hour ; and then, having reported all right, 
we also once more pursued our route towards the setting 
sun, over a road where there was no road, over bridges 
where it would be much safer to ford the stream, and 
through a country rich only in stones and stumps ; 
where land would be no bargain at half a dollar per acre. 
Half an hour before sunset, when we gained the summit 
of a long dreary hill, the great orb of day burst through 
the clouds in all his setting glory, and the thin vapours 
were seen rising from the woods and valleys beneath us, 
and floating gradually away before the fast subsiding 
gale. The road, too, at the same moment improved, 
running over a firm earthen track ; the driver cracked 
his whip, and, smiling, observed that " we should be in 
by an hour after sun-down yet." The horses trotted 
merrily along ; we threw aside our wet cloaks and coats ; 
while every thing to us v/ore a diflerent appearance, and 
we now saw some beauty in the vast and endless forests 
which encircled us on every side, save here and there a 
solitary patch of cleared land, the eflects of the industry 
of some hardy settler, who, one would almost imagine, 
had quarrelled with the whole world by seeking so se- 
cluded a spot ; but we were now in a humour to be 
pleased with every thing. 

Our gleams of sunshine and good fortune were only 
transitory ; for in a few minutes we again dived into the 
dark, thick pine forest, whose ragged branches and tall 
straight trunks had but a few minutes before formed so 
fine a contrast against the lighter foliage of some other 
natives of the grove. Ascending higher ground, too, we 
were once more enveloped in the heavy damp clouds, 
and, as night set in, the road became worse, and the ha- 
bitations of men and all signs of cultivation disappeared. 



A svbaltern's furlough. 11 

Neither the coachman nor ourselves had ever travelled 
in the direction we were moving ; so alike uncertain 
whither we were going, but trusting to chance and good 
fortune, we renewed our journey, grumbling against 
America and its miserable roads, and arriving at the fol- 
lowing conclusion — that to move out of the common 
coach route, to leave the turnpike road which was pass- 
able, and to attempt exploring new and undescribed 
scenery by striking out a line of road for ourselves, 
would • never answer any end, and was in itself almost 
impracticable, — that, for the future, we must be content 
with the old well-worn track of former tourists, and visit 
no places but those notified in the " Stranger's Guide,'- 
or " Northern Traveller." Tourists, however, are al- 
ways in search for some incident which may be rather 
out of the common way, and which may vary some little 
the dull pages of their diary ; and we too should have 
been satisfied had the fair and chaste moon shone brightly 
on us, laying open to our view some of the dark recesses 
of the dense forest, or the dreary depths of the vast ra- 
vines beneath us. But we had not a spice of the true 
romantic spirit in us ; we preferred a warm supper and 
a good dry mattress, in a comfortable inn, to weathering 
it out in an unknown country, where we might be half 
drowned ere golden Phoebus again walked forth from his 
chamber in the East. At nine o'clock, from the cold 
breeze which swept past us, and from the streak of light 
along the horizon, as if the clouds, having nothing to 
cling to, were compelled to rise from earth, we knew that 
some large sheet of water was nigh, and shortly after- 
wards saw Seneca Lake, like a narrow stream lying far 
beneath us. We were doomed, however, to still farther 
disappointments ; nor was it until an hour past midnight, 
after having trudged about eight miles on foot through 
deep and muddy pools, that we reached a small inn, at 
the head of the lake, wet, weary, fainished, and conse- 
quently out of humour. 

After much knocking at doors, and shaking of windows, 
we succeeded in rousing the landlord from his lair. In 
half an hour's time, he spread out before us a " rudes 
indigestaque moles" of apple-pye, new cheese, sour beer, 



12 A subaltern's fuhlough. 

heavy Indian bread, and port wine, which savoured 
strongly of logwood and brandy ; but our appetites had 
been well sharpened by our wanderings, and we were in 
no humour to find fault. Sitting by the cheerful wood 
fire, we already began to laugh at the misfortunes and 
slow progress of our journey, having been more than 
nine hours performing a distance of twenty-one miles. 
Excellent beds being provided, in a few minutes the trou- 
bles of the past, fears and anticipations of the future, 
were alike forgotten. 



A subaltern's furlough. rS" 



CHAPTER II. 

The souls of Usurers after their death Lucian affirms to be 
metempsychosed, or translated into the bodies of asses, and there 
remain certain years, for poor men to take their pennyworth out 
of their bones. 

Peacham on Blazoning. 

Such guides set over the several congregations will misteach 
them, by instilling into them puritanical and superstitious prin- 
ciples, 

Walton. 

You take a precipice for no leap of danger, 
And woo your own destruction. 

Shaespeare. 

On the morning of the 10th of August, embarking on 
board a steamer, we left Watkins, Jeffersonville, Seneca 
Head, or Savoy, as we heard the small village, where we 
had passed part of the night, severally called. Though 
commanding a much finer situation than Ithaca in every 
respect, with a canal running past it which connects the 
water of lake Erie and Seneca with the Susquehannah 
River by the Chemung Canal, yet there are not above 
twenty frame-houses in the settlement, arising from the 
mistaken policy of the proprietor of the land, who will 
scarcely sell a rood under a New York price ; whereas, 
if he gave away every other lot for building upon, the 
increased value of the remaining lots would make him 
more than an adequate return. The head of Seneca 
Lake, like that of Cayuga, is black marsh, overgrown 
with bull-rushes and reeds. Several large streams, with 
fine water-falls enter it a few miles from the village, of 
which the Hector, 150 feet in height, and those at the big 
stream Point 136, are the most worthy of observation. 

We considered ourselves fortunate in meeting with a 
gentlemanly, well-informed person in Captain Romney, 
an Englishman, the proprietor of the " Seneca Chief," 
the only steamer which plies upon the lake. He pur- 
chased the right of steam upon these waters for a mere 

VOL. II. B, 



14 A subaltern's FTTFLOtGH. 

trifle, from ex-governor Lewis, to whom it had been 
sold by Fulton, who possessed originally the exclusive 
right of steam navigation on those inland waters of the 
State of New York, which did not interfere with the 
interests of neighbouring States, as the Hudson does 
with the communication to Vermont and Lower Canada. 
This charter was granted to Fulton for a term of thirty 
years, six of which have not yet expired ; before the lapse 
of that time the present possessor may expect to realize a 
considerable fortune. The profits arise principally from 
towing the Erie Canal boats to the different ports in the 
lake, the traffic on which will be much increased by the 
Chemung and Crooked Lake Canals, now nearly complet- 
ed. The charge for towing vessels from one to the other 
extreme of the lake, a distance of forty miles, is six dol- 
lars, and it is performed in a few hours. 

At Rapeley's Ferry, a few miles down the lake on the 
western bank, are the remains of a pier from which the 
celebrated Jemima Wilkinson proved the faith of her fol- 
lowers. She had collected them for the purpose of seeing 
her walk across the lake, and addressing them, while one 
foot touched the water, enquired if they had faith in her, 
and believed she could reach the opposite shore in safety ; 
for, if they had not faith, the attempt would be vain. 
Upon receiving the most earnest assurances of their belief 
that she could pass over, she replied " that there was no 
occasion then to make a display of her power, as they 
believed in it ;" and, turning round, re-entered her car- 
riage, and drove off, to the chagrin of thousands of idle 
spectators, and to the astonishment of her numerous dis- 
ciples. Captain Rumney, who was acquainted with her 
during her life-time, described her as a tall, stately, and 
handsome woman ; but of rather a masculine appearance. 
In her costume she much resembled a clergyman, having 
her hair brushed back, wearing a surphce and bands, with 
a Quakers' hat. She was a native of Rhode Island, and 
during the Revolutionary war formed an attachment with 
a British officer, who subsequent!)^ deserted her. In con- 
sequence of this merciless treatment, she suffered a vio- 
lent attack of fever, and for some days lay in a deep trance, 
though the medical men affirmed she might have easily 



A subaltern's furlough. 15 

roused herself from it had she only the wish to do so. It 
is supposed that at this time she was engaged in laying 
the deep plot which was so successfully carried into exe- 
cution on her recovery, by stating that, " Jemima Wil- 
kintjon having died, the angels in Heaven had disputed 
who should enter her body, and visit the earth as the 
Universal Friend of Mankind, — as the Saviour of the 
World ; that she (now calling herself an angel in Jemi- 
ma's body) had been appointed to fill the body of the 
deceased, and was come upon earth to preach salvation to 
all. Many believed in her, and, a sect being soon formed, 
she quitted Rhode Island, and settled near Crooked Lake, 
a few miles to the west of Seneca, where her followers, 
some of whom were men of independent fortune, purchased 
a large tract of land for her ; the deeds of her farm being 
drawn up in the name of Rachel Mellon, a relative who 
inherited the estate after Jemima's death, six years since. 
Upon all her plate, carriage, &c., the letters U. F. (Uni- 
versal Friend) were inscribed. She observed the Jewish 
Sabbath, but preached on Sundays to the numerous visit- 
ors who were attracted to her house by mere curiosity. 
She was well versed in the Scriptures, and possessed a 
remarkably retentive memory ; but, in other respects, 
was an illiterate woman. The creed of her sect is the 
Metempsychosis ; but since her departure the number of 
believers has considerably diminished, the present head 
of the Society, Esther Plant, not having sufficient tact 
to keep them united. In Jemima's life-time, so jealous 
were her disciples of due respect being paid to her that no 
answer would be returned to enquiries after " Jemima," 
but only if designated as the " Friend." 

All the points of land in the lake (save one, which has 
a singular bush formed by the hand of nature into the 
exact representation of an elephant) are occupied by 
small villages, which possess excellent harbours, during 
heavy gales up or down the lake, and have above 20 fath- 
oms of water within 30 feet of the shore. This one ex- 
ception is the property of Esther, who will not part with 
it upon any terms. The entrance to the Crooked Lake 
Canal is at the village of Dresden, a German settlement, 
eight miles west of which is Jemima's house. On the 



16 A subaltern's furlough. 

opposite shore in Seneca County is Ovid, situated on a 
pretty eminence, overlooking the water ; also Lodi, Bru- 
tus, and various other classically named places. These 
names, it appears, were bestowed by the Government on 
townships, distributed among the Revolutionary soldiers, 
which extended originally over a large tract, from the 
borders of the lake, almost as far east as Utica The 
veterans were soon, however, over-reached, and induced 
to dispose of their lands to some scheming and designing 
speculators, who re-sold them most advantageously to the 
present possessors, persons of respectability ; and the 
same land which would not then bring a dollar in the 
market will now produce from 25 to 40 and even 50 per 
acre. The soil is a strong loam,^ and well adapted for 
wheat. Seneca is, however, an Indian name, although it 
might naturally be supposed to have the same origin, in 
imitation of antiquity, as the neighbouring towns of Ma- 
rathon, Pharsaha, Homer, Virgil, and Cassius. The sce- 
nery upon the lake closely resembles that of Cayuga, be- 
ing unvaried and uninteresting ; the water is, however, 
beautifully clear, the pebbly bottom being visible in a 
calm day at the depth of 30 feet. Being principally sup- 
plied by springs, the ice upon it never becomes so thick 
as to impede the navigation ; during the severe trost of 
1831, a thin sheet formed on some parts, but was bro- 
ken up by the first light breeze which ruffled the water. 
The town of Geneva possesses a beautiful situation upon 
a rising bank at the northern extremity of the lake, with 
terraced gardens approaching to the water's edge, and 
many pretty villas scattered around. About a mile from 
the town, on the borders of the water, are some extensive 
glass works, which however have not been worked during 
the last year, the owner having failed to a great amount,^ 
through mismanagement in his farming speculations. 
When the works were first estabhshed, they occupied a 
narrow space in the midst of a forest where fuel was plen- 
tiful ; but the ground is now so well cleared about the 
town that a cord of wood, measuring 4 feet in height 
and 8 in length, costs a dollar and a quarter, (more than 
5s. sterling.) An opinion prevails, from an appearance of 
the strata at the head of the lake, that coal may be found, 



A subaltern's furlough. 17 

when required. Geneva is altogether a pretty spot, and 
contains one particularly fine street, in which is the col- 
lege, a dull, heavy-looking building, with castellated walls 
and other tasteless appendages. But the private residen- 
ces equal any in the Slate. 

Proceeding on our journey atmid-day, on the 11th, we 
passed through a fine rich country, chequered with heavy 
crops of every grain. The apples appeared perfectly 
ripe, and the peach-trees were every where loaded with 
fruit. The soil evidently increased in richness the far- 
ther we proceeded to the west, and the cultivated lands 
about these parts produced from 16 to 25 bushels of wheat 
per acre, bringing generally a dollar per bushel of 601b., 
being always sold by weight. The buildings on the 
farms are commonly wood, though bricks are nearly as 
cheap, selling from 3 to 4 dollars per thousand, and from 
their superiority, both as to safety and durability, will 
probably become more and more general. The prefe- 
rence given to wooden ones at present arises from the lit- 
tle time required to erect them, and their being habitable 
immediately. Farming labourers' wages are not so high 
as one would be led to suppose from the price of other 
trades' labour; they receive generally about 12 dollars 
a month and their board. In harvest time however a 
good cradler will earn a dollar and a half per diem, and 
be found in provisions also. The threshing machine be- 
ing generally used in these parts will much tend to lower 
the price of labour. At one farm by the road side, we 
saw men employed in carrying wheat from a field into 
an adjoining barn, where it was immediately transferred 
to the threshing-machine, and forthwith despatched to 
market. The poorer class who wish to avoid expense, 
labour, and loss of time, send their wheat to persons who 
keep machines for letting out, and who retain a small por- 
tion of the grain in lieu of a pecuniary remuneration for 
their trouble. 

The ground in the vicinity of Canandaigua, fifteen 
miles from Geneva, was kept in a state of cultivation by 
the Indians, prior to General Sullivan's march through 
the country fifly years since, when the whole western 
part of the State of New York was in possession of the 



W A SUBALTERN^S FVHLOUGH, 

Six Nations, of whom now scarcely a vestige remains. 
The town is at the outlet of the Canandaigua Lake, and 
in an unhealthy situation, owixjg to the water being damm- 
ed up near the outlet for the purpose of supplying a mill- 
wheel, thus forming a large wet marsh, which produces 
a deadly fever in the autumnal months. Endeavours 
have been made by actions at law to compel the mill pro- 
prietor to lower his dam, or to surround it with a bank to 
prevent the water overflowing the country, but hitherto 
to no purpose. The town consists of one principal street, 
two miles in length and about J 60 feet in breadth, with 
gardens and locust trees in front of the houses. It is gene- 
rally considered the handsomest place in the State, though, 
in my opinion, not equal to Skaneaieles. 

From Canandaigua, we travelled over a hilly and sandy 
road, running parallel with the canal, and under its great 
embankment over the Irondequoit Creek. This immense 
work, for a distance of two miles, averages a height of 
seventy feet above the plain across which it is carried. 
The banks being chiefly of sand, great caution is necessa- 
ry in watching and puddling any small crevices which may 
appear. Two years since, the water forced its way 
through the embankment, and, rushing down upon the 
road and plain beneath, swept away every thing which 
opposed the fury of its course. The lesser sand-hills at 
this time present evident marks of the furious torrent which 
passed over them. 

At sunset, descending a hill, we entered upon a flat, 
marshy plain, on which the town of Rochester is situated. 
It has more the appearance of a town in a new world 
than any I visited, and nothing can be more miserable 
than its appearance from a distance. An open space has 
been merely burnt in the forest, and the town has been 
run up without any attempt at getting rid of the innu- 
merable stumps of trees, which even make their appear- 
ance in the outer streets of the place. It is, in truth, a 
city in the wilderness, and cannot be healthy, so long as 
it is surrounded by such dense, dark forests. The trees 
in America are not felled so that the stump remains level 
with the ground, as in England, but according to the con- 
venience of the woodman, who generally strikes the trunk 



A subaltern's furlough. 19 

about three feet from the root. Where a thick forest 
has thus been cut down, the desolate appearance the face 
of the country presents can be scarcely imagined : — 
large blackened trunks, and arms partly consumed by 
fire, lie encumbering the ground till they decay, or are 
again consigned to the fire by some more industrious far- 
mer than the generality of the Americans. At Rochester 
however nothing of this kind has yet taken place, though 
it is the most thriving town in the State. The softer 
kinds of wood, such as birch and beech, decay sufficiently 
in six or seven years to admit of being knocked up, but 
hemlock and pine will scarcely be affected by the seasons 
of half a century. 

Crossing the Genessee River, we entered the principal 
part of the town, and drove to the Eagle, situated in the 
main street, a fine hotel with excellent rooms and an at- 
tentive landlord. The town has risen in an incredibly 
short space of time : twenty years since was a wild unin- 
habited tract where 14,000 people now earn a livelihood. 
Its rapid rise originated from the Erie Canal passing 
through the town, and the Genessee affording so great a 
water-power to the extensive flour, cotton, and other 
mills on its banks. The canal crosses the river by a fine 
aqueduct 300 yards above the Falls, where the celebrat- 
ed leaper, Sam Patch, took his last and fatal descent in 
1829. The Falls are over a perpendicular ledge of rock, 
97 feet in height : with that descent however he was not 
satisfied, but had a platform erected to the height of 25 
feet, on a small island which divides it, and in the pre- 
sence of thousands of spectators precipitated himself into 
the gulf beneath, from which he never re-appeared. 
Many ladies who were the innocent spectators of his 
death, little imagining there could be any risk, as he had 
already made a similar descent from the Falls of Nia- 
gara, fainted when, after anxiously awaiting some seconds 
for his re-appearance above the surface of the water, 
they at last discovered by the shriek of horror which 
arose from the assembled crowd that they had been in- 
strumental in the destruction of a fellow-creature ; and 
every one regretted, now it was too late, that such an 
exhibition had been encouraged. The unfortunate man, 



20 A subaltern's furlough. 

being intoxicated when he ascended the platform, did not 
preserve the proper position for entering the water ; and 
his death doubtless arose from the great shallowness of 
the stream, it being ascertained thai there were only 
fifteen feet of water to resist the impetus of his weight 
falling from such a height. It appears to signify but 
little how men immortalize themselves, and Sam Patch 
has rendered himself immortal, at least in America, by 
more innocent means than most of his ambitious brethren. 
The scenery about the Falls is uninteresting, and but 
little worthy of notice, though a large body of water 
forms the cataract. The banks of the river are high 
and contracted, and covered with extensive ranges of 
mills. 

Judge Rochester, whose family resides m the neigh- 
bourhood, was the great proprietor of the land upon 
which the town is built ; he was a man of considerable 
influence in the State, and stood a contest for governor 
with De Witt Clinton. Many of the streets are well laid 
out, and contain excellent buildings ; the arcade, how- 
ever, in which is the post-office, is but a second-rate 
structure, the plan of the whole ill-arranged, and making 
a poor figure for so flourishing a town. The churches 
are superior in style of architecture, and constructed of 
more durable materials, than is generally the case in 
America. We attended divine service at the first Pres- 
byterian church, which was well attended, and heard an 
excellent sermon. 

The cholera being very prevalent in the town, we de- 
parted on our route to the westward on the morning of 
the 13th of August. In answer to our enquiries at the 
office the preceding evening, the book-keeper informed 
us that the coach would start at four o'clock in the morn- 
ing. This being rather too early an hour for some of 
the party, we agreed to take an extra coach, which can 
always be obtained (there being no post-chaises in the 
country) at all the principal hotels. The book-keeper 
no sooner heard this our determination, than, being 
alarmed at the idea of losing so many passengers, he 
proffered to delay the coach until after breakfast, if that 
would be an accommodation to us. At half-past eight, 



A subaltern's furlough. 2^1 

accordingly, the heavy vehicle drove up to the door, 
with the only seat we had not secured occupied by a re- 
tailer of groceries, who, with the patience of Job, had 
been awaiting our pleasure for upwards of four hours and 
a half. His eyes beamed with evident delight, and he 
gave a kind of inward chuckle as he saw No. 1 carpet 
bag thrown into the boot ; and not a hint did he drop 
during the whole journey of the unconscionable time we 
had delayed him for the mere purpose of gratifying our 
gastronomic propensities. For small families, the tra- 
veHing arrangements in America are most inconvenient, 
as there is no alternative but either to be crowded with 
nine inside passengers, and no one knows who, as compa- 
nions, or to be put to the heavy expense of hiring an 
extra. The time, too, at which the regular stage (as 
they term them) arrives at the place of its destination is 
a matter of the greatest uncertainty, depending entirely 
upon the number of passengers — not that any delay is 
caused by their additional weight, but by the distance 
they may reside from the direct line of road ; for a coach- 
man will drive a quarter of a mile out of his way to take 
up or put down a person. 

At this time, travelling amongst the Americans them- 
selves was nearly at a stand still ; every landlord and 
coach-proprietor complained bitterly of the presence of 
the cholera, as having done them incalculable injury. 
The only people I met on the move for pleasure, during 
the latter part of my journey, and through the infected 
districts, were foreigners, to whom the panic was a vast 
advantage, as there was not the usual crowd of summer 
tourists, and I was never at a loss for a seat in the coach, 
bed, or board, which would not have been the case in 
healthier seasons. Our party this day consisted of a ci. 
devant lieutenant of the British navy, now a naturalized 
American, two Frenchmen, two Englishmen, one Scotch- 
man, and a Welchman, whom chance only had brought 
together within the last two days. 

We now entered upon the famous "Ridge-road," which 
extends for eighty miles, from Carthage, near Rochester, 
to Lewiston on the Niagara River. From the circum- 
stance of its running parallel with Lake Ontario, at the 



22 A subaltern's furlough. 

distance of six or eight miles, and its elevation above it 
being about 100 feet, with a gradual inclination towards 
the water, it is supposed to have once formed the south- 
ern boundary of the lake, and to have been thrown up 
by the action of the waves. Being formed of sand and 
fine gravel gives to that opinion some foundation ; and 
that such banks can be formed by the action of the sea 
is very evident upon many parts of the English coast. 
From having been always referred to the Ridge-road, 
when I found fault with American highways, I expected 
to travel upon a perfect level, instead of upon a road 
broken, as this is, by frequent abrupt and deep ravines. 
From this time I was told that I ought to see one some-^ 
where far back in the west, several hundreds of miles 
distant in the Ohio country, which was not inferior to 
any Macadamized road in Great Britain ; but, as my 
curiosity never carried me so far away from the Atlantic 
as the Alleghany Mountains, I can only speak of those 
highways over which I did travel, not one of which would 
have escaped an indictment in the old country. In some 
States, as in New York and Connecticut, turnpikes are 
frequent ; but this collection of tolls did not tend visibly 
to the improvement of the roads. The gate is generally 
formed of a hurdle, or a long narrow frame with nume- 
rous vertical bars, which is drawn up in the manner of a 
portcullis by ropes into a roof built across the road, until 
the traveller has passed. 

There is no attraction in the scenery to lead a person 
upon the Ridge-road, being carried through a flat and 
uninteresting country, with only a narrow strip, never 
exceeding a mile in width, redeemed from the surround- 
ing forest. In no part of our journey were the waters 
of the lake visible, though but so few miles distant. Set- 
tlements, however, are forming rapidly, and, from the 
clouds of smoke which hung over various parts of the 
forest, it may safely be predicted that not many years 
will elapse before the thick veil will be withdrawn. Three 
miles from Lockport, we left the Ridge, and entered 
upon a rough, shaking, " corduroy" road, a new species 
of railway they might call it, being formed entirely of 
pslit trees and rails laid across the road, without any 



A subaltern's FUELOrGH. 23 

regard to level or disproportion of size, and a most sove- 
reign contempt for any thing like repairs. Such a 
wretched apology for a highway ought to have immor- 
talized its inventor's name, in place of being called after 
the coarse cloth which it resembles in grain. The man, 
at least, deserved a patent for having discovered a most 
excruciating mode of dislocating bones, and an easy me- 
thod of breaking the axletrees of carriages combined. 
We proceeded at a marvellously uncomfortable, slow, 
foot pace over this corduroy, until, crossing the Erie 
Canal, we entered the village of Lockport, which, like 
Rochester, or most places on that line of communication, 
has sprung up in almost a day. The greater part of the 
village is situated on the summit of a hill, over which the 
canal is carried by means of five locks, each containing 
16 feet water, and raising a boat 12 feet. As the ascent 
of a boat through such a succession of them would much 
delay those on the point of descending, both loss of time 
and confusion have been avoided by having a double row 
of locks, side by side. These being principally cut out 
of the solid rock, and well finished off with substantial 
masonry and iron railings, may, with the great embank- 
ment over the Irondequoit Creek, be considered the most 
arduous undertaking between Buffalo and Albany. After 
having surmounted the locks, the excavation through 
the solid rock extends for upwards of two miles. The 
surplus water of the canal supplies several mills with a 
powerful stream, one, too, which will never fail, the canal 
itself being fed by lake Erie. The mills return the water 
to the canal again below the locks, and the clear current, 
which flows at about a mile per hour, renders the Erie 
Canal very different in appearance from our muddy 
works of the same description in England, which are 
so often unnavigable, from a scarcity of water in the 
reservoirs. There is a singularly constructed wooden 
bridge, composed of a series of platforms of open frame- 
work, one above the other, below the basin at the foot 
of the locks. It extends over the canal from one side of 
the ravine to the other, at not a less height than 80 feet 
from its foundation, and 60 above the level of the water, 
and at a length of about 300 feet. 



24 A subaltern's furlough. 

Having visited all the objects of curiosity in the vil- 
lage, not excepting the saw-mills, we took the packet- 
boat at a quarter to eleven o'clock, and in fifteen minutes 
more had passed through the locks. A fine, clear, full 
moon, rendered the numerous lamps about those works 
quite useless, but its charms were not sufficiently power- 
ful to induce us to expose ourselves to the night-air and 
heavy dew, by remaining on deck until the boat had 
emerged from the excavation of the mountain ridge. 

At daylight, on the 14th, we passed through the Ton- 
newanta Creek, up which the canal had taken its course 
for several miles ; and by seven o'clock arrived at the 
village of Black Rock, where it enters the harbour 
formed for vessels trading upon Lake Erie. In com- 
pany with another gentleman, I left the boat a mile be- 
low the village, and walked leisurely along the towing- 
path, diverging from it at Black Rock, and passing 
through the principal street. Being on the fron^ier, it 
suffered during the barbarous and retaliatory warfare of 
18i2, but has again sprung up into a moderately-sized 
place, schooners and small brigs being built there for the 
navigation of the lakes. The canal keeps along the 
bank of the river to the town of Buffalo, three miles 
distant, where it communicates with Lake Erie, having 
passed through an extent of country from its entrance to 
the Hudson not less than 363 miles. 

Buffalo is a thriving, bustling town, handsomely and 
well built, and daily increasing in number of inhabit- 
ants. It was supposed to have received its death-blow 
during the last war, but one house escaping the confla- 
gration : it rallied again, hov/ever, upon the laying out 
of the canal, and has now a population of about 8000, 
and ere long promises to outstrip Rochester itself. Its 
situation, though having one front upon the lake, is far 
from agreeable, the surround? ng country being flat and 
uncultivated. So low indeed is some part of the town 
that heavy westerly gales raise such a swell on this 
vast inland sea as to cause a considerable inundation, 
frequently proving destructive to the property on the 
margin of the water. 

During the morning we visited the Seneca tribe of In. 



A subaltern's furlough. 85 

dians, who, to the amount of 700 or 800, possess a large 
tract of land of an irregular form, but containing about 
100 square miles, to the S. E. of the town, upon which 
their farms and woods closely verge. The school in the 
mission-house, four miles from Buffalo, is an object of 
great interest. It consists of from thirty to thirty-five 
boys and girls, between the ages of eight and fourteen, the 
greater portion of whom are maintained at the mission- 
house by the Society, the parents scarcely contributing 
any thing towards their support. The instructress in- 
formed us that some of them now and then brought a few 
provisions and some clothing, but nothing more. We 
heard the first class read the nineteenth chapter of St. 
Matthew, without any previous study, each scholar 
(there being eight in the class) reading two verses until 
the chapter was concluded, afterwards spelling and de- 
fining the most difficult words in it, in a manner which 
would have reflected great credit upon English children 
of the same age. Their mistress said that she invaria- 
bly found them intelligent, willing, and apt to learn; 
but their countenances appeared to me very heavy, and 
far from being indicative of sense. They are allowed to 
converse with each other in the English language only, 
and have been christened after the most approved Ame- 
rican manner. In the first class, there were Phoebe, Le- 
titia, Maria, and other awkward creatures, with similar 
romantic names ; and two clumsy-looking lads, of four- 
teen years of age, with faces as round and flat as a 
Cheshire cheese, were known as James and Edward, 
though I should imagine their distinctive titles amongst 
the tribe would be '< Sleepy-eye," and " Owl." The 
mission has been established nine years ; and, though 
there are but fifty church-going people amongst the 
tribe, yet it is equally divided between the Christians 
and worshippers of the Great Spirit, the latter of whom 
are steady opposers of the mission and will never cross 
the threshold of the house. The tribe (which since the 
death of their celebrated warrior, " Red Jacket," has 
been governed by a kind of oligarchy of chiefs) is di- 
vided, according to their religion, into two distinct parties, 
which, though associating but little, yet live upon good 
VOL. II. — c. 



26 A subaltern's furlough. 

terms with each other, having the same influence and an 
equal voice in the councils and management of the pub- 
lic affairs. All the Reservation is common property ; 
but, if any individual ears and encloses a tract for the 
purposes of cultivation, no one can interfere with that 
farm so long as he tills the ground ; for the time being, 
it is to all intents and purposes his own. Many of the 
tribe are honest, industrious farmers ; we saw several 
of them with their squaws riding to town on horseback, 
and in the common American carriole, or carry all. But 
the majority are indolent and intemperate, suffering 
much in winter for want of clothing and provisions, and 
being generally supplied with the necessaries of life by 
their richer and more sensible brethren, some of whom, 
even were they of the " pale faces," would be consi- 
dered men of small but independent fortune. 

The Church, situated near the Mission-house, is a neat 
wooden edifice, with accommodation for about 250 per- 
sons. The psalms and prayers are printed on one page 
of the book in the Seneca and on the opposite in the 
English language. The members of the church marry 
according to the established forms. 

V/e now proceeded to a house in the village (which is 
scattered widely over the country,) for the purpose of 
making some enquiries respecting their treatment of the 
cholera, which had already appeared with fatal effects 
amongst many of the Indian tribes. A party, amongst 
whom were several women, were sitting at the door 
busily employed in picking greens for dinner, despite the 
great outcry raised against vegetables at this time. The 
females, upon our approach, immediately rising, entered 
the house, while I entered into conversation with a heavy, 
dull-looking man. He spoke English, and was a tho- 
rough Yankee, guessing I came from the East, and 
reckoning that it was considerable sickly in New York. 
When I came to the point, however, and wished to dis- 
cover the cholera remedy, he referred me to a fine, 
Roman-nosed, curly-headed man, who did not under- 
stand English, and put my questions as an interpreter to 
him. This man pointed out some herbs which grew wild 
in every direction, saying that they boiled and then ad- 



A subaltern's furlough. 27 

ministered them as a broth to the patient, wrapping him 
afterwards in blankets, and producing great artificial heat 
in his body by means of hot stones, &.c. This treat- 
ment had met with wonderful success, there being only 
eleven deaths out of one hundred cases, a much greater 
proportion of recoveries than amongst the "pale faces." 
I tasted the herbs, and found one to be the wild camo- 
mile ; the other was hot and pungent to the taste, and 
fiery as Cayenne pepper. The houses in the village 
were similar to those of the American labouring class, 
and the " Indian Hotel" was quite a respectable-looking 
edifice, and doubtless well attended. As in many other 
instances, I had formed very erroneous ideas of the per- 
sonal appearance of the red men of the woods, imagining 
them to be noble-looking waraiors, of fine stature, with 
countenances of the Grecian or Roman cast ; but I found 
them more like the dark and vengeful Malay. A French 
gentleman, one of my fellow-travellers, had evidently 
formed a similar opinion ; for when I pointed out to him 
a female of the tribe, who, with her papoose (infant) 
slung across her shoulders, and in her person resembling 
a moving bundle of old clothes, was walking past the 
hotel in Buffalo, he enquired with the greatest naivete to 
what sex the person belonged, and, upon my informing 
him, exclaimed, raising his hands with astonishment, 
^' Oh ! la malheureuse ! la malheureuse !" 



28 A subaltern's furlough. 



CHAPTER III. 

Or under shadow of the cataract, 

With deep and dread dehght, 

Stand where Niagara's flood wears down the mountain tract, 

SOTHEBY. 

LXX. 

And mounts in spray the skies, and thence again 

Returns in an unceasing shower, which round, 

With its unemptied cloud of gentle rain, 

Is an eternal April to the ground. 

Making it all one emerald : — how profound 

The gulf! and how the giant element 

From rock to rock leaps with delirious bound, 

Crushing the cliffs, which, downward worn and rent 

With his fierce footsteps, yield in chasms a fearful vent. 

LXXI. 

To the broad column which rolls on, * * 

******* 

Childe Harold, Cant. iv. 

In the evening, taking a carriage, we drove to Black 
Rock, and, crossing the violent stream of the INiagara 
to the little hamlet of Waterloo by a horse-ferry, stepped 
ashore into our own good king's dominions. I really 
felt quite at home again, for what reason I know not : I 
had experienced nothing but civility and attention in the 
United States ; yet here we were at a hop, step, and a 
jump in another land. Every thing denoted a different 
country ; and the first signs we saw over the public- 
house doors were " the Crown," *' the King's Arms,'* 
with other loyal superscriptions, and the first steamer 
which dashed past us was the " Adelaide." It was truly 
a relief to my eyes after the many and various Eagles I 
had sojourned at, and the divers '* Citizens' Union 
Line" steam boats in which I had travelled. 

We proceeded down the Niagara River, which flow- 
ing out of Lake Erie at Buffalo with a rapid descent, and 
varying from 500 yards to two miles in width, empties- 



A subaltern's furlough. 29 

itself after a course of thirty miles into Lake Ontario at 
Fort George. It was a mild and agreeable summer's 
evening, and, without viewing things with a prejudiced 
eye, I certainly never enjoyed a journey in the States so 
much as this one, and never travelled on a road, not ex- 
cepting even the famous Ridge-way, to be compared with 
it. The bridges were strong and well-built, the road 
level and free from corduroy and ruts, running the whole 
extent of our ride parallel to the river, without any fence 
intervening between us and the water, but flanked on 
the other hand by well-cleared and cultivated grounds, 
and neat old-fashioned cottages. Of all our party, seven 
in number, probably 1 did not the most enjoy the scene, 
yet to me it was truly delightful, — one of those few 
which men are permitted to enjoy. Two hours' drive 
brought us to Chippewa Battle Ground, when I paid my 
respects to the field by walking over it, with the last true 
account of the action in my hand, to ascertain the posi- 
tion of the contending armies. While looking out for 
some mound or brief monument (of which there was not 
even a single vestige), erected to the memory of the nu, 
merous brave who fell on the hard-contested day of the 
5th of July, 1814, I saw the light white cloud of spray 
rising from the Falls of Niagara, beautifully gilded by 
the declining sun. Battle Ground, King's Arms, and 
well-cleared country, were alike forgotten, and, tlirow- 
ing myself into the carriage, I leaned back, keeping my 
eyes as intently fixed upon the white pillar of spray as 
the Mussulman does his penetrating gaze upon the new 
moon. Twenty minutes more took us past the bold and 
beautiful Rapids to the Pavilion Hotel. My French 
friends, true to their national feature, were noisy in ex- 
clamation and other tokens of surprise, joy, and asto- 
nishment ; the English, characteristic of their country, 
spoke not a word ; but, not the less feeling the beauties 
of the prospect, gazed on the magnificent scene in silent 
admiration. As I could almost pardon the Parsee for 
adoring so splendid a phenomenon as the rising sun in all 
its eastern glory, so could I excuse the red man of the 
woods for his devotion at the Falls of Niagara. How 
much more noble a deity than the muddy, slow, sacred 

c* 



30 A subaltern's fuklough. 

stream of the Ganges ! Probably we could not have 
been introduced to such a scene at a more favourable 
time ; a brilliant rainbow was dancing in the spray, as it 
was agitated to and fro by the light evening breeze, and, 
even while we looked on, the last rays of the sun, as it 
sunk below the horizon, tinged the vapoury mist with a 
hue no artist could imitate. The snow-white wreaths of 
water, as they rushed over the broad ledges of rock with 
furious violence, for a mile above the Falls, contrasted 
with the dark blue surface of the still calm current above, 
and the vivid green sheet as it shot forth from its dark 
bedover the tremendous precipice into the foaming abyss 
below, presented a scene which it is the good fortune of 
but few to see, of still fewer to appreciate, and which 
none can well describe. I have read manv accounts and 
descriptions, seen innumerable prints and sketches of the 
Falls of Niagara : but not a single one ever gave me the 
remotest idea of their stupendous magnificence. I 
should say to all those people who possess the means of 
gratifying their admiration of the works of nature, " If 
you wish to form an idea of the noblest sight in the 
creation, cross the Atlantic, and, seeing, judge for your- 
selves." 

Towards midnight, when nought was heard but the 
thundering of the mighty cataract, I walked out and 
stood on the bank for some time, looking at the awfully 
grand scene beneath me, which is equally sublime when 
viewed by the soft and silvery but indistinct light of the 
m.oon as during the brighter rays of the meridian sun, 
and is certainly more calculated in the former case to 
inspire a feeling of awe. Upon me the scene made a deep 
and lasting impression. Retiring to my bed, I dreamed 
of strange events, of vast waters rushing through my 
ears, of drowning people, of leaping fearful cataracts, and 
such a dreadful medley of perils by flood and field that 
I was well pleased to find myself, at break of day, snug- 
ly and safel}^ lodged in a warm bed and secure house. 

After breakfast the following morning I walked out to 
explore the falls more minutely, the preceding evening 
having afforded but a superficial view of them ; and, pro- 
ceeding a few paces from the hotel, I arrived at a zig-zag 



A subaltern's furlough. 31 

path, which led down the steep and wooded bank to the 
level of the river above the Falls, which is about 150 or 
200 feet below the surface of the surrounding country. 
The rivers' banks are between 15 and 20 feet high, from 
Buffalo to the village of Chippewa, when the rapids com- 
mence and pass over a series of falls with a declination of 
60 feet in a mile, until they reach the grand cataract, 
where the perpendicular descent on the Canada side is 
158, and on the American 164 feet. An island of consi- 
derable extent divides the river into unequal portions, the 
Canada or Horse Shoe Fall (so called from its shape) 
being 1,800 feet in length, and the American but 900. 
The river, for some distance before arriving at this spot, 
takes an easterly direction, when, the Falls being passed, 
it suddenly diverges at right angles and pursues a north- 
erly course towards Lake Ontario. The formation of 
the Horse shoe can be very naturally accounted for by 
the greatest rush of water being in the centre of the river, 
and by attrition wearing away the rock, so that the Falls 
are slowly retiring towards Lake Erie. In process of 
time, some 10,000 years hence, I suppose, by a moderate 
calculation, the upper lake will be drained, and a succes- 
sion of rapids only will intervene between Huron and On- 
tario. The last time any quantity of rock gave way 
was about two years since, when nearly a quarter of an 
acFC fell from the centre of the Horse Shoe, with such a 
tremenduous crash as very sensibly to affect the ground 
upon which the hotel stands, and the cottages in the im- 
mediate vicinity. Neither the heavy autumnal floods, 
the melting of the winters' snow, nor breaking up of the 
ice, make any sensible difference in the colour or quanti- 
ty of the vast body of water which flows down from the 
upper lakes. To fall into the rapids at Chippewa, or ven- 
ture within a mile of the great cataract in a boat is con- 
sidered by the peasantry almost inevitable death. Many 
instances are on record of men and boats being carried 
over it, from attempting to cross the stream too rashly 
within the sweeping influence of the rapids. Neverthe- 
less 'tis said, and I have heard it gravely asserted by some 
people (though they were not eye-witnesses certainly,) 
that an old squaw once ran the gauntlet of both rapids 



32 A subaltern's furlough. 

and falls in her birch canoe, and rising again, amongst 
the bubble and foam of the boiling abyss, she shook her 
long dishevelled locks awhile to discover whereabouts she 
was, and then swam ashore unscathed, untouched ! But — 

" Credat Judseus Apella, 
Non ego." 

She must have been one of the witches of old, taking a 
bath or a jaunt in her sieve for pleasure. 

Had we but arrived a few hours sooner, we would have 
witnessed the destruction of a scow, which, laden with 
a horse, twelve hogs, two or three sheep, and a dozen 
cords of wood, had struck against the pier, in making the 
entrance to the Chippewa Canal, and springing a leak 
became unmanageable. The crew, immediatel}'- perceiv- 
ing their danger, threw themselves into their canoe and 
effected their escape ashore. The horse it was said, 
(with the same instinct that prompted the bears who leap- 
ed from a schooner three years since, though it was in- 
tended they should pass the Falls for the innocent amuse- 
ment of some thousands of American spectators,) sprang 
overboard and swam ashore. The vessel, with the un- 
fortunate animals left to their fate, was carried over the 
centre of the vast Horse Shoe, scarcely a vestige of the 
wreck ever re-appearing. 1 walked for a mile along the 
beach in search of fragments of the vessel, but did not 
observe any of its timbers exceed six feet in length, al- 
though many of them were nine inches in thickness, and 
in no instance was there any portion of two planks still 
connected. The only sheep which appeared again above 
water, and which was driven ashore perfectly dead at 
the Ferry, nearly half a mile below the Falls, was dread- 
fully mangled. The bones of its legs were broken and 
even crushed, as if they had been placed in a vice ; but 
a hog, which lay near it, showed no outward signs of 
injury, and only bled profusely at the mouth. 

The wood which has passed the Falls at various times 
has been collected in small rocky inlets, and at the 
head of the backwaters, with the edges rounded off per- 
fectly smooth by the incessant tossing it received before 
it floated out of the attractive power of the Falls. Even 



A subaltern's furlough. 33 

the natives of the stream do not appear proof against 
their influence, as numerous dead fish are always to be 
found on the sides of the banks near the Ferry. 

The grandest view of the deep gulf into which the river 
descends, is from Table Rock, a large projecting slab on 
the Canadian side, formed by the under stratum, which 
is of a soft substance, being washed away. Two guides 
live within a ^e\v paces of it, and each has erected an en- 
closed spiral stair-case, from his wooden shanty down 
the side of the rock, to the loose shelving bank 80 or 90 
feet beneath, along which there is an easy path to the foot 
of the cataract. Having with two of my fellow travel- 
lers expressed a wish to walk behind the falling sheet, 
we were provided with oil-skin dresses, having first di- 
vested ourselves of our usual apparel. Our new gar- 
ments were by no means the most comfortable which 
could have been devised ; they had been made for men 
of all sizes, shapes, and dimensions, from Daniel Lambert 
down to the " anatovde vivante ;" and I was some time 
arranging matters, so that I might have a chance of retain- 
ing possession, when the furious hurricane should inflate 
them like the bags of jEoIus. The shoes had evidently 
visited the water two or three times daily for the last 
half-dozen years at least, and, having been as often ex- 
posed to the sun, had become nearly as hard and inflexi- 
ble as sheet iron. To crown all, we had each a glazed 
hat, and, thus equipped, we descended the stair-case, and, 
gaining the sloping bank, descended for 70 or 80 paces 
under the overhanging rock, until within a short distance 
of the dense cloud of spray, and dark semicircular en- 
trance, when a council of war was held with regard to 
ulterior movements. The day was stormy, and inclined 
to rain ; the wind blew in strong gusts up the stream, 
making the waves to curl up in wreaths of foam, and 
cast such a dismal gloom over every thing around us as 
to render the appearance of our undertaking far from in- 
viting One of the party backed out, asserting that his 
lungs were weak, and a friend had told him " there was 
a difliculty in breathing behind the Fall," so that he would 
not attempt to explore the dark recess : a second said 
that he '* decidedly would not go any farther, that there 



34 A subaltern's furlough. 

was nothing whatever to see, and that mere braggadocios 
only went behind, so that they might talk about it after- 
wards." I was thus left in the minority, but, as Falstaff 
says, " Honour pricked me on," and, being resolved to 
see all that was to be seen, I boldly told the guide to 
lead the way, and, with a caution to keep my head down,, 
we entered the thick mist, boring our way slowly through 
it in the dark. The path was at first over a narrow ledge 
of rock, only a few inches in breadth, and affording but 
a very insecure footing ; the guide however grasped one 
of my hands firmly, while with the other I took hold of 
the rough projections in the rock. The wind, which 
equalled a tornado, blew the water against my face in 
such torrents that I could scarcely see ; but I felt no dif- 
ficulty in breathing. After proceeding 30 or 40 feet be- 
hind the sheet of water, the wind moderating a little, the 
water descended in a more perpendicular stream, and my 
surprise almost amounted to disappointment when the 
guide stopped, and said we had arrived at " Termination 
Rock." I scarcely credited that we had advanced 150 
feet, and made an attempt to pass the ne 'plus ultra, but 
found it utterly impracticable, the rock becoming too 
abrupt to afford either a footing or a firm hold to the hands. 
Until this point the path is about 2^ feet above the level 
of the water, and the base of the curve, between the 
great body of the falling sheet and rock, is about 40 feet. 
The guide here told me to look up ; but the water dash- 
ed with such impetuous violence against my face, and the 
light shone so dimly through the watery medium, that T 
made the experiment but thrice. While I amused myself 
with shouting at the extent of my voice, the guide was 
making the best use of his time in securing a quantity of 
the eels which abound amongst the loose stones. I could 
scarcely, however, hear myself ; so, despairing of having 
any effect upon the ears of my friends in the open air, I 
rejoined them but a trifle wiser than when I entered, and 
felt rather hard pressed for an answer to their oft repeat- 
ed enquiries of "Well, what did you see ?" and their jests 
upon my half-drowned appearance, as I stumbled over 
the stones, pumping the water out of my shoes at every 
Step, and my hair adhering to my cheeks in long straight 



A subaltern's furlough. 35 

lines. Having resumed my habilaments, the following 
certificate was handed to me, so that hereafter no one 
might venture to doubt my prowess : 

" This may certify that Mr. Coke, British Army, has 
passed behind the great falling sheet of water to Termi- 
nation Rock. Given under my hand at the office of the 
General Register of the names of visitors at the Table 
Rock, this 15th day of August, 1832. 

"John Murray." 
And on the reverse, as the medallists would say, the fol- 
lowing exquisite morceau : — 

"Niagara Falls." 

The following was suggested by paying a visit to the 
'' Termination Rock," 153 feet behind the great falling 
sheet of water at the Falls of Niagara, on the 6th of 

August 1828: — 

"Look up ! look up ! the spray is dashing — 

Roaring waters foaming sweep ; 
O'er our heads the torrent's clashing, 

Hurling grandeur down the steep. 

Oh, mortal man ! beneath such splendour, 

How trifling, empty, vain, and poor I 
Prepare, then, Sinner, to surrender 
^ All thoughts unhallowed or impure. 

Tremenduous is the scene around us ; 
Oh, mark how wild the waters ring! 
Terrific columns, bright, surround us : 
Grand are thy works, O God, our King." 

David M. Day'^s Print^ Buffalo. 

Two days afterwards, those gentlemen who had de- 
serted the cause on the previous occasion proposed to 
pass in rear of the Fall, and, wishing to ascertain the 
appearance of it in a clearer state of the atmosphere, I 
accompanied them, and was much gratified with my se- 
cond trip. The vast curved sheet over head nov/ looked 
beautifully white and glaring, presenting an effect simi- 
lar to that of the sun's rays upon ground glass, which 
render surrounding ■ objects dim, and is too dazzling to 
gaze long upon. The smiling green verd ure of the banks, 
with the deep blue sky reflecting on the smooth surface 



36 A subaltern's furlough. 

oftheriverin the distance, and the brilliancy of the Ameri- 
can Fall, seen through the thick spray at the entrance of 
this watery cavern, formed a strange contrast to the 
turbulence of every thing within. Though there was 
scarcely a breath of air without, yet the wind blew in 
the same heavy gusts behind the Fall as on the preceding 
day, and, upon our return to the atmosphere, we were 
pushed out by the force of it so rapidly as to impress 
those persons standing v/ithout with the idea that we were 
escaping as fast as possible from the Fall. I might be 
said to be scudding before it under bare poles ; for, the 
guide's wardrobe being too scanty for our party of four, 
each of us was under the necessity of dispensing with 
certain portions of the requisite dress ; and it fell to my 
lot to obtain only a pair of the afore-mentioned torturing 
shoes, a hat four inches less in circumference than my 
head, and a short frock coat of oil-skin, and thus equipped, 
a V JZcossois, I encountered the fury of the storm. I should 
pronounce the undertaking perfectly safe for a man of 
the most delicate lungs, and even for ladies possessed of 
moderate nerves ; one of the latter, with whom I have 
the pleasure of being acquainted, penetrated as far as 
Termination rock, and I believe this is not a solitary in- 
stance. Any one who can make up his mind to walk 
out in a heavy thundsr-shower, accompanied by a stiff 
gale of wind, may as safely venture in rear of the Falls. 
With proper caution, there is no real danger ; the first 
sight of the enormous column of water, as it descends 
from the mountain (Niagara bfiing derived from two In- 
dian words signifying "coming from above," or " from 
a mountain,") may raise fears, which, however, become 
dissipated on further acquaintance. 

The hotel, and 400 acres of ground, have been lately 
purchased by a company (of which, I believe, the Brit- 
ish Consul at New York is the head,) who purpose found- 
ing a city, which is to be commenced immediately, un- 
der the name of the "City of the Falls," or "Clifton" 
— I forget which. The hotel, which is to be pulled down, 
may be well spared, without loss in any respect. It 
was not only a dirty and uncomfortable place, but I felt 
my English blood almost boil in my veins when I found 



A subaltern's furlough. 37 

myself sitting in company with two servant women at 
the table d'hote, at the same time that their mistress oc- 
cupied a place at the other end of the table. I could 
have very well accommodated myself to such neighbours 
in the States, but never expected to have found the level- 
ling system introduced into the British provinces to such 
an extent. After being exposed to it during every meal 
for three days, I crossed the river to dine at the Ameri- 
can village, where the hotel was much more comfortable, 
and kept by no less a personage than a general. This, 
however, was no novelty ; for in such a nursery for mi- 
litias, volunteers, and citizen guardsmen, as the States, a 
man need not think himself in the shghtest degree hon- 
oured by being waited upon by a general officer. 

The company of speculators intend erecting grist-mills, 
store-houses, saw-mills, and all other kinds of unorna- 
mental buildings, entertaining the most sanguine hopes 
of living to see a very populous city. The die then is 
cast, and the beautiful scenery about the Falls is doomed 
to be destroyed. Year after year will it become less and 
less attractive. Even at this time they were surveying 
and allotting, and proprietors were planning one front 
of their house upon the Falls, the other upon Lundy's 
Lane, and meditating the levelling some of the rock, so 
as to form a pretty little flower-garden. It would not 
much surprise me to hear, before many years have elaps- 
ed, that a suspension bridge has been thrown across the 
grand Horse-shoe to Goat Island, so that the good peo- 
ple of Clifton may be the better enabled to watch the 
pyramidical bubbles of air rising from the foot of the ca- 
taract. 'Tis is a pity that such a ground was not re- 
served as sacred in perpetuum ; that the forest trees were 
not allowed to luxuriate in all their wild and savage 
beauty about a spot where the works of man v/ill ever 
appear paltry, and can never be in accorda,nce. For 
my own part, most sincerely do I congratulate myself upon 
having viewed the scene before such profanation had 
taken place. The small manufacturing town of Man- 
chester (what a romantic name and what associations!) 
upon the American Bank, at present detracts nothing 
from the charm of the place, the neat white-washed 

VOL. II. D. 



36 A subaltern's furlough. 

houses being interspersed with trees and gardens ; but 
when once the red and yellow painted stores, with their 
green Venetian blinds, tin roofs, and huge smoking chim- 
neys arise, farewell to a great portion of the attraction 
Niagara now possesses. 

A ferry-boat, half a mile below the Canadian Fall, 
crosses to Manchester, landing the passengers within 
fifty yards of the American one, where the water is 
precipitated over a flat perpendicular rock 300 yards in 
breadth. The prosperity of this village has been much 
retarded by two causes, one from its liabiHty to destruc- 
tion, being a frontier settlement ; and the other — by no 
means an uncommon cause in the United States, — the 
extravagant price demanded by an individual, the great 
proprietor, for a grant of the water privileges allowed 
by the Rapids. Two or three hundred yards from the 
bank above the Ferry, and at the entrance to the village, 
a wooden bridge has been thrown over the Rapids to a 
small island on which there is a paper mill, and con- 
nected with Goat Island, which is of considerable extent, 
and divides the two falls. Truly the men who were 
employed in the erection of this bridge must have been 
in full possession of Horace's cds triplex, for a more pe- 
rilous situation could scarcely be imagined. A slip of a 
workman's foot would precipitate him into the Rapids, 
whence he would pass with the rapidity of lightning over 
the Falls. It was constructed at the expense of General 
Porter, an American officer of distinction, during the late 
war, and- appears strong and firmly situated. The piers, 
are of loose stones, confined together by a wooden frame 
or box, and the floor of planks twelve feet in width. — 
There was one erected previously at the upper end of 
the island, and out of the great power of the Rapids, but 
it was continually subject to injury from the drift-ice, 
whereas in its present situation the Rapids render the 
ice harmless, by breaking it before it arrives so low as 
the bridge. Goat Island is thickly covered with trees ; 
but a road has been formed round it, and across it, to a 
position on the opposite side, from which the Canadian 
Fall is seen to great advantage. Another platform (for 
it can scarcely be called a bridge) has been constructed 



A subaltern's furlough. 39 

upon some detached masses of stone, called the Terrapin 
Rocks, which extend into the stream nearly 300 feet, 
and to the very verge of the cataract. The platform 
projects 12 or 15 feet beyond the last rock, so that a per- 
son standing at the end can look down into the foaming 
abyss. The situation apparently is not a very secure 
one, for the end is utterly unsupported, being merely up- 
held by the superior weight of the timber upon the last 
natural pier. A large party of us walked to the outer 
extremity ; but observing upon what a slight thread we 
were trusting ourselves, and the idea of the stage being 
overbalanced by our weight, and launching us all into 
the cataract and the next world, occurring to our minds, 
we soon retreated to a more secure position. 

It has been estimated that upwards of 100,000,000 of 
tons of water pass the Falls in an hour, of which at least 
two-thirds fall over the Horse-shoe. The centre of this 
Fall is particularly grand, the water falling in so thick a 
body that it descends nearly 50 feet in an unbroken 
sheet of the most vivid green. At the upper edge, where 
it begins to descend, the dark thin ledge of rock over 
which it is precipitated is distinctly visible, and gives the 
water in that part a beautiful and deep blue tinge. The 
noise of the Falls is not near so stunning or so loud as 
the descent of so large a quantity of water might be sup- 
posed to produce. Some writer (Captain Hall, I believe) 
has compared it to that of the surf at Madras ; the simi- 
larity of sound struck me, but I thought the roar of 
the waves breaking upon the sandy beach, even in mod- 
erate weather, much greater than that of Niagara. 1 
have heard the former in calm evenings at the canton- 
ment of Poonamallee, a distance of fourteen miles ; but 
the latter was very indistinct at nine or ten. My bed- 
room at the hotel was only 400 yards distant from the 
river, and I thought the noise of the Falls, at night, much 
resembled that of boisterous and windy weather, and just 
sufficient for producing a most soporific effect upon me. 
Frequently I sat down upon the banks of the stream with 
my eyes closed, racking my brain in vain to discover 
what the sound of the cataract did really resemble. — 
When the wind was blowing from the Falls towards me 



40 A subaltern's furlough. 

at the distance of two miles, it was like that of a vast 
quantity of flour-mills at work, or large manufactories in 
the immediate vicinity. And then it appeared as if nu- 
merous carriages were driving at a furious rate along the 
road, and more than once I started up on my feet to 
ascertain who were coming. At times the noise would 
rise and fall as if the water were aflfected by some gust 
of wind or a heavy swell; the next moment the sound of 
machinery, and again the surf at Madras, would appear 
before me, and not unfrequentjy it would resemble the 
sound of a common waterfall, with which, probably, 
every one is well acquainted, but which almost any one 
would find it difficult to describe. Although Patch, of 
fall-leaping celebrity, has generally the credit of leaping 
these Falls, he is entitled only to that of having descended 
from a platform at an elevation of 120 feet near the stair- 
case upon Goat Island into a backwater of the river. 

There is a spring under the bank, within a few feet of 
the edge of the Rapids a mile above the Falls, the water 
of which emits gas in such quantity as to flame out to 
the height of three feet when a light is applied. A small 
wooden building has been erected over it, and, upon 
opening the door, there is a powerful rush of air, not- 
very agreeable to the nasal organs of the visitor. The 
water boils up out of the ground into a barrel, where 
there is a tube eighteen inches in length, to the end of 
which the light is applied. The boy who makes a live- 
lihood by showing it took the barrel up afterwards, to 
prove that no deceit was practised, and tried the experi- 
ment upon the water, which burned for half a minute and 
then expired. The same kind of springs are very com- 
mon along the small lakes and near the village of Canan- 
daigua in the State of New York. 

Being bent upon seeing all the lions at Niagara, we 
enquired what next was worth seeing, and, hearing of a 
place having the awful designation of the Devil's Hole, 
we procured a guide, and after a hot walk of a mile and 
a half arrived at a turn of the river. By dint of hard 
scrambling, and lowering ourselves by the roots of trees, 
we succeeded in gaining the foot of the steep bank, when 
we stood before this modern entrance into Pluto's domi. 



A subaltern's furlough. 41 

nions, expecting that we should find an equal to the far. 
famed one in the Peak of Derbyshire, — that we should 
be wafted over subterraneous rivers, be half, or probably 
wholly, stifled by the foul air, and encounter various dens 
of rattlesnakes, or receive the hug fraternal from a par- 
ty of bears. The guide, saying, " Follow me," crept 
forwards on his hands and knees into the dark and nar- 
row chasm, with the rest of the party close in his rear. 
After proceeding for a few feet, we were brought to a 
dead halt, and found ourselves in a small cave of about 
20 feet square and 5 or 6 in height ; but in no part could 
any one of us stand upright. One of the party asked, 
in a melancholy tone, if that was all ; and, being answer- 
ed in the affirmative, we made up for the disappointment 
of not visiting the infernal regions by making the cave 
re-echo with our peals of laughter, and returned to the 
hotel, despatching half a dozen new sight-seekers to visit 
the Devil's Hole. 

The Field of Battle of Lundy's Lane is in the vicinity 
of a small village one mile from the Falls, and was the 
scene of the hardest contested action during the late war. 
A burial ground has been formed and a church is in 
meditation upon the rising eminence where the British 
artillery was posted, and where the bodies of those who 
fell were buried. The remaining portion of the field 
was purchased after the conclusion of the peace by an 
officer who was present in the action, and who now re- 
sides there. 

The whole of this part of the frontier is a fine and fer- 
tile country ; but, owing to its long settlement and sad 
mismanagement, the soil has become nearly exhausted. 
I did not see any part of America which 1 should prefer 
as a residence to that which lies between Lakes Erie and 
Ontario. It is much sought after by retired officers, and 
the better class of emigrants. The majority of the com- 
pany at the hotel during my stay there consisted of 
families lately arrived, who were making purchases in 
the vicinity. If the settler seek society, he may meet a 
continued stream of his countrymen on their pilgrimage 
to the most stupendous natural curiosity in the world ; 
and, if he wish retirement, he may have it in perfection, 



42 A subaltern's furlough. 

for the attention of all travellers is so entirely engrossed 
by the one grand object, that they trouble not them- 
selves with making visits, or intruding upon those who 
have settled down within hearing of the roar of the ca- 
taract. 

Every one with whom I had previously conversed 
upon the subject most carefully impressed upon me that 
I should be disappointed with the Falls. Like a good 
philosopher, therefore, I had prepared myself to meet the 
disappointment with calmness and resignation, recalling 
to my mind all the penny prints I had seen in my child- 
hood, representing the pine tops, the bare rocks with a 
solitary goat or an Indian perched upon a promontory, 
and a smooth sheet of water rolling over the side of the 
said rock. The result was that I gazed upon them hour 
after hour, in the bright glare of the noon-day sun, the 
soft light of the moon, the sombre haze of the storm, the 
mild and lovely serenity of a summer's eve, with re- 
newed and increasing admiration. I condemned those 
who had told me I should be disappointed as having no 
taste, and found fault with every living and dead author 
for not having sufficiently praised them. But I soon 
discovered that I could not succeed any better in descrip- 
tion than in delineation of the scenery upon which the 
full power of my poor pencil was in vain bestowed, and 
all my labour was lost in attempting to give a represen- 
tation which might impart to my friends some faint idea 
of the stupendous grandeur of the scene. The more a 
person gazes upon the Falls, the more he admires them. 
New beauties appear with every change of wind and 
every passing cloud. In a damp and calm atmosphere, 
when the spray ascends like a dense fog to the height of 
500 or 600 feet, and mingles with the clouds, the scene 
diifers more than one who has not witnessed it can ima- 
gine, from the appearance on a clear, sun-shining, mid- 
day, when only a light mist rises and curls gracefully 
like the smoke of a distant hamlet, or as the sun verges 
towards the western horizon a beautiful rainbow is seen 
dancing in the spray, or when a strong breeze allows it 
to rise for a few feet above the upper level of the Fall, 
and then sweeps it along within a few feet of the earth, 



A subaltern's furlough. 43 

it sprinkles the traveller, at the distance of half a mile, 
with a bounteous summer shower. 

My time was so limited that I could spare only four 
days for Niagara, during which time my eyes were 
scarcely fit for any other object but the Falls, and I part- 
ed from them with as much regret as if bidding farewell 
to an old friend, frequently turning round, when advanced 
many miles upon my journey, to gain a last glimpse of 
the light pillar of spray. 

" What an idea Mr. must have formed of them !" 

thought I, musing as I moved onwards. He was an old 
fellow-traveller I had met by chance at Buffalo, and, 
seeing him step into a coach after breakfast, 1 had the 
curiosity to ask him where he was bound to. " To the 
Falls," was his reply. " And how long do you intend 
staying there?"— "I shall return in the evening;" and 
verily I met him eight hours afterwards half way back 
to the hotel from which he had started. He had hurried 
down to Manchester, 14 miles distant, peeped at Goat 
Island, pulled across the Ferry, toiled up the zig-zag 
road, peered over Table Rock, and, throwing himself 
into another coach, hastened back by the Canada shore, 
and could now enjoy the satisfaction of telling his friends 
that he had seen the Falls, or use the laconic words of 
the Roman, " veni, vidi." 

An hour's drive brought us to Queenston Heights, 
upon which there is a monument of freestone 130 feet 
high, with the following inscription over the entrance 
door : — 

"Upper Canada 

has dedicated this monument to the memory of the late 

Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, K. C. B., 

Provisional Governor, and Commander of the Forces in the 

Province, 

whose remains are deposited in the vault beneath. 

Opposing the invading enemy, 

he fell in action, near these heights, 

on the 13th of October, 1812, 

in the 43d year of his age, 

revered and lamented 

by the people vehom he governed, 

and deplored by the sovereign 

to whose service his life had been devoted. 



44 A subaltern's furlough. 

We obtained a fine view from the summit of forts 
George and Niagara, with the vast expanse of blue wa- 
ters of Lake Ontario, and York (the capital of Upper 
Canada) on its northern shore. Part of the scaffolding 
above the upper gallery has not yet been removed, it 
being intended to place some time or other a statue of 
Sir Isaac on the pedestal at the summit. The spot where 
he fell is near three poplar trees at the back of the vil- 
lage ; he was shot while leading on his troops to attack 
the Americans, of whom a small detachment had crossed 
the river during the night a short distance above the 
Ferry, and succeeded in ascending the heights, where, 
surprising the British sentry, they lay in ambush until 
the main body effected a landing opposite the village. 
The British army moving forward to attack the latter 
were warmly received, at the same time that their rear 
was gained by the party from the heights. In this attack 
the British commander fell, and with him the position, 
until the arrival of a reinforcement from Fort George, 
seven miles distant, under General Sheaffe, who attacked 
the enemy in their position on the heights so impetuously 
that the rear of a column was pressed by the front over 
the precipice to whose verge it had retired. Numbers 
met a terrible death by being dashed against the rocks, 
or, falling stunned into the river, 300 feet below, were 
lost among the eddies. The ferryman told me that some 
few gained the American shore by swimming, but those 
few must have been powerful men who could stem such 
a stream, divided as it is between its natural course and 
the backwater which runs up with nearly as much rapi- 
dity on the Canadian side as the stream flows towards 
the ocean on the American bank. The village of Queen- 
ston is a miserable-looking place, but previous to the 
conflagration in 1812 w^as of some importance ; the in- 
habitants, however, taking warning from their misfor- 
tunes during that period, removed to more distant parts 
of the province, where they might hope to retain more 
peaceable possession of their property. 

Lewiston, a mile from the Ferry, on the opposite side 
of the river, though not possessing so fine a situation, 
promises to become a flourishing village ; but presenting 



A subaltern's furlough. 45 

no object of interest, excepting the remains of Fort Gray 
upon the river's bank, I recrossed the Niagara, and ar- 
rived by sunset at Newark, Fort George, or Niagara, (as 
it is severally called,) at the junction of the river with 
Lake Ontario. The first mentioned was the original 
name, but it was changed by law in 1798, and of late 
years has been more generally known as Fort George by 
the military and Niagara by the provincialists. As the 
Americans have a garrisoned fort of the latter name on 
the opposite bank, it creates much confusion and occa- 
sions frequent mistakes amongst travellers. Crossing the 
common, a crown reserve which is used as a race-course, 
my eyes were once again greeted with the sight of St. 
George's banner, and the athletic figure of a Flighland 
sentinel, pacing to and fro on the broken ramparts of a 
fort near the entrance to the town. A few minutes 
brought us to the best hotel, where, though the landlord 
used his utmost endeavours by civility and attention to 
render us comfortable, yet still I could not resist drawing 
secret and inward comparisons between the American 
and Canadian hotels — comparisons, indeed, which were 
far from favourable to the latter ; and I began to find my 
British prejudices in favour of the infaUibility of every 
thing Canadian already wavering. 

The town occupies a pretty situation on the margin, 
and about twenty feet higher than the lake, which has so 
much encroached upon it by the waves undermining the 
banks, that batteries which were thrown up but a few 
years since, as near as possible to the margin of the wa- 
ter, for the laudable purpose of annoying the enemy's 
fort on the opposite peninsula, have now nearly disap- 
peared. The common above the town is intersected with 
the breast- works and redoubts of the English and Ameri- 
cans, as each party alternately had possession. The 
most extensive of them, dignified with the appellation of 
Fort George, contains some low wooden decayed bar- 
racks; and another below the town, in a still more 
mouldering state, is named Fort Mississagua, from a tribe 
of Indians, the original possessors of the tract of country 
between it and Fort Erie, thirty miles distant. These 
works, which are now rapidly crumbling into dust, and 



46 A subaltern's furlough. 

possess but the shadow of their former greatness, might 
with some trifling expense be again rendered formidable. 
At the present time they are only put to shame by the 
neat, white appearance of the American fort Niagara, 
which being built exactly opposite the English town, and 
not 800 yards distant, might annoy it by a very effective 
bombardment. During the late war it was rendered al- 
most useless, being surprised by Colonel Murray during 
the night, when the olficer in command of the garrison 
had retired to his private residence two miles distant, and 
the royal salute fired for the capture first conveyed to 
him the news of the loss of his post. It was built by 
the French so far back as 1725, passed into the hands of 
the British by the conquest of Canada in 1759, was ceded 
by treaty to the United States in 1794, and restored to 
them after the peace of 1814. A long spit or bar of sand, 
running out from it into the lake, compels vessels bound 
up the river to pass under the guns of Fort Mississagua, 
which completely commands the entrance. 

The following day being Sunday, I attended service at 
the Scotch and English churches. As the former had 
been commenced from the foundation within only a few 
months, the interior was in a very unfinished state ; but 
the congregation was large, and I was much struck with 
the fine soldier-Hke appearance of two companies of the 
79th Highlanders, who attended in their full costume. 

There having been a death by cholera in the hotel 
during the night, I was anxious to leave the town imme- 
diately ; but, no public conveyance travelling on the 
Sabbath, I was necessarily detained until mid-day on the 
Monday, when embarking in a steamer I crossed the 
Lake, and in five hours entered the harbour of York, the 
capital of Upper Canada. 



A subaltern's furlnugh. 47 



CHAPTER IV. 

From this place the navigation down the river St. Lawrence 
was rendered extremely difficult and dangerous, by a great num- 
ber of violent riffs or rapids, and falls, among which he lost above 
fourscore men, forty-six batteaux, seventeen whale-boats, one 
row galley, with some artillery, stores, and ammunition. 

Smollett. 

The old Indian name of York was Toronto, and it was 
so called from the circular bay upon whose margin the 
town is built ; but the same rage and bad taste for moder- 
nizing the names of places has spread over the Canadas 
as in the United States. The first objects which meet 
the eye upon approaching the bay are the miserable bar- 
racks and mud fort upon the left, Gibraltar Point and 
Light-house on the right, and the large building of the 
new Parliament House in the town, about a mile distant 
from the fort, in front. The town, containing between 
8000 and 9000 inhabitants, is situated on low ground, 
which rises gradually as it recedes from the lake, but at- 
tains no great elevation. The streets are straggling and 
ill paved, but the greater proportion of the private houses 
and shops are of good substantial masonry. The public 
buildings, with the exception of Government-house, which 
in point of external appearance is little superior to a cot- 
tage, are plain and excellent, and the English church, 
when completed, will be a tasteful and ornamental struc- 
ture, The new Parliament House a spacious brick 
building, was in an unfinished state, and had been appro- 
priated for the purposes of an hospital during the preva- 
lence of the cholera, of which cases were daily landing 
from every vessel that brought emigrants from Montreal. 
It was truly melancholy to see some of the wretched 
objects who arrived ; they had left England, having 
expended what little money they possessed in laying in a 
stock of provisions for the voyage and payment of their 
passage across the Atlantic, expecting to obtain work 
immediately they landed in Lower Canada. Being de- 



48 A subaltern's furlough. 

ceived in these prospects, they became a burden upon 
the inhabitants of Quebec, or the provincial government. 
Forty-five thousand emigrants of all classes landed in 
that city during the first three months of the season, and 
the fate of many of them was miserable in the extreme. 
Nearly every headland of the St. Lawrence was occu- 
pied by an hospital, tenanted by numerous sufferers. 
Those who had some small funds, and intended settling 
in the lands belonging to the Canada Company, were 
forwarded to the Upper Country in the following manner. 
The emigrant who purchased not less than 200 acres in 
the scattered Crown Reserves, or 100 acres in the Huron 
Tract, received a passage to the head of Lake Ontario, 
upon depositing with the Company's agent at Quebec a 
sum of money equal to the price of his conveyance to 
the head of the Lake. After he had fixed upon his land, 
he showed the receipt for his forwarding-money to the 
Company's agent at York, and it was taken in pc^rt pay- 
ment of his second instalment, the Compan)'^ allowing 
the purchasers of their lands to pay by six instalments 
in five years, and giving them a right to occupy the lots 
after payment of the first instalment. 

The situation of York is far from an inviting one, the 
inhabitants being subject during certain seasons to the 
fever and ague, caused by the marshy ground which lies 
close to the town and around the head of the bay. It is 
almost to be regretted that a better site could not have 
been chosen for the capital of an increasing country. 
Though a more central position than Kingston at the foot 
of the lake, yet in no other respect does it equal it. The 
bay is too shallow to admit vessels of even moderate bur- 
den, and in time of war it is always exposed to the incur- 
sions of American gun-boats, and the town subject to be 
sacked, as in 1813. Some years since it was proposed 
that the capital of Upper Canada should be on the bor- 
ders of Lake Simcoe, and a water communication be 
opened with Montreal by means of the shallow lakes and 
Rideau Canal ; but I believe all thoughts of removing the 
seat of Government from York are now entirely laid 
aside. The land in the immediate vicinity is poor and 
cold, but becomes more fertile as the distance from the 



A subaltern's furlough. i9 

^iake increases, and good farms are abundant towards 
LakeSimcoe, and on the sides of the road called Young- 
street. The place is however only in its infancy as yet, 
and said to be increasing rapidly, though the compari- 
sons between it and Buffalo, the last American town I 
had seen, and of a very few years' growth, were much 
in favour of the latter. There are no places of public 
amusement, and the chief diversion for the young meii 
appeared to consist in shooting musquito' hawks, which 
hovered plentifully about the streets and upon the mar- 
gin of the bay in an evening. Upon these occasions the 
sportsmen made their appearance, equipped in shooting 
jackets, and attended by their dogs, as if prepared for a 
12th of August on the rnoors of Scotland. 

O 

I found nothing here to make a longer stay than three 
days desirable, and was on the point of proceeding to 
Burlington Bay, for the purpose of seeing the head of the 
lake, and visiting Brandt, the celebrated chief of the Six 
Nations of Indians, who possess a large reservo^ion there, 
when an officer, who had just arrived from Brandtford, 
informed me he had seen a man dying of cholera in the 
chief's house the pi'eceding day.* Being in a bad state 
of health myself at this time, and uncertain of obtaining 
medical assistance there if required, in company with a 
friend I embarked in a steamer, and arrived at Kingston 
the following morning, after an unpleasant voyage of 
twenty hours, over a short, dancing sea, which I found 
by far more disagreeable than the long swell of the At- 
lantic. 

The town and uncomfortable inns were crowded Uj 
excess, owing to the assizes and the Bishop's visitation 
occurring together ; nor was it without great difficulty 
that we succeeded in obtaining a sleeping apartment upon 
the ground floor of the principal hotel. Justice appeared 
to be distributed and the representatives of the law to be 

* Brandt (or Tekanehogan, as he was sometimes called) wa« 
carried off by the same disease a few days after I left York. He 
liad distinguished himself upori several occasions during the last 
war with the United States, and was a poHshcd, well-informed 
man. His habits were those of a Enropean, and, in his earlier 
days, he had resided for some time in England. His fathef's 
name has been immortalized in " Gertrude of Wyoming." 

Vol. II. — E 



50 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 

attired in the same plain and simple manner as in the 
States. We saw the sheriif dressed in plain clothes, hnt 
with a cocked-hat, queue, and sword, walking through 
the streets to the court-house, with a judge, undistinguish- 
ed by dress, upon either side of him. 

The town, Avhich contains about 5000 inhabitants, lies 
upon the margin of an arm of the lake, with the navy- 
yard upon the opposite peninsula, formed by this inlet, 
and the entrance to the Lake of the Thousand Isles. By 
the Indians, an old encampment which they had upon the 
spot w^here the town now stands w^as called Catarakwi. 
When the French became lords of the soil, they erected 
a fort, and named it Frontenac, in honour of the Governor 
of Canada, and both Avere in turn ousted by the English; 
and Kingston, during the late w^ar, being the great naval 
dep6t for the fleets upon the lakes, it was a busy flourish- 
ing place, but declined with the peace. It may now, 
however, experience a re-action from the Rideau Canal 
communicating with the lake here, and be again restored 
to its former prosperity. This canal continues up the in- 
let of the Bay until it reaches the first locks at the mills, 
live miles distant : the masonry and the whole workman- 
ship connected with them are much superior to those 
upon the Erie or Chesapeake and Ohio Canals. The 
total number of locks between Kingston and Bytown, 
upon the Ottowa River, 136 miles distant, is 47; their 
length about 140, breadth 33, and depth 16 or 17 feet. 
Dams, upon a very extensive scale, have been had re- 
course to throughout the line of canal, instead of excava- 
tions as in England. Where such works have been 
thrown across marshes, or the Rideau River, in order to 
swell the Rapids, and form a navigable stream, so vast 
an extent of stagnant water (in one place 10,000 acres) 
has been created as to render the settlements in the vici- 
nity exceedingly unhealthy. I saw many of the work- 
men at the mills who were perfectly helpless from the 
marsh fever they had caught. These large inundations, 
however, in a few years will destroy the drowned forests, 
and a quantity of valuable land may then be reclaimed by 
small embankments. The whole work was completed at 
an expense to the Imperial Government of 700,000?. 



A SUBALTERN'S FURLOUGH. 51 

Ie the event of war with our neighbours, it will be found 
invaluable for the transportation of military stores and 
troops from the lower to the upper province, without be- 
ing subject as heretofore to captures from the American 
force upon the St. Lawrence, or to running the gauntlet 
of the batteries upon their bank of the river. Like the 
Erie, in the State of New- York, it will also encourage 
settlers along the vv'hole line, as an outlet is now opened 
for the produce of their farms. Two steamers were at 
this time continually running between the Ottawa and 
Ontario, and the traffic of heavy boats also appeared con- 
siderable. 

Several large hulks of vessels of war, built during the 
last war to cope with those of the Americans on the stocks 
atSackett'sHarbour, and which were never launched, are 
now fast falling to decay in the Navy-yard at Kingston, 

A seventy-four had been sold two or three months pre- 
viousij^ for 25/., and a few daj-s before our arrival a hea^'y 
squall of rain, accompanied by lightning, had split the St. 
Lawrence, of 120 guns, down the centre, and, the props 
giving way, the vessel broke into a thousand pieces, co- 
vering the ground all around with a heap of ruins. Ere 
long the remaining four or five frames will meet with a 
similar fate, as they are in a very advanced state of decay, 
partly OAving to the want of proper care, and being run 
up hurriedly and of unseasoned timber. There is also 
the Commodore's House (his flag, by the bye, was at this 
time flying on a cutter stationed in front of this squadron 
of hulks,) and some fine marine barracks in the Navy- 
yard. The ground rises abruptly in rear of them, and 
forms a shelter to the capacious bay in front of thetoAvn. 
On the summit of this elevated land a fort of consider- 
able extent was repairing; it occupies an excellent posi- 
tion for defending the entrance to the harbour and the 
narrows of the St. Lawrence. The new Barracks in the 
town are also fine substantial buildings enclosed by a 
loop-holed wall, and erected at the opposite extremity of 
the bridge to the marine barrack. 

The land in the vicinity of Kingston is rocky, and in 
favourable seasons makes but a poor return to the farmer; 
there was even on the 25th of August, the morning upon 
which we quitted the town, so severe a frost as to cu^ 



52 A SUBALTERNS FURLOUGH. 

down many of the vegetables. Grand Island, 24 miles in. 
ienofth. extends from Kino-ston to the villao-e of French- 
town, where the lake of the Thousand Isles commences'. 
These isles are of every intermediate size, from a small 
barren rock three yards in diameter, with a solitary pine 
growing out of a cleft in it, to one of seven miles in length 
partially covered w4th a cold soil. Although the scenery 
in those parts where the river from being contracted 
amongst the islands for some distance suddenly expands 
again into a broad lake, is rather pretty, yet generally it 
is very tame and uninteresting, the banks being low and 
thickly covered with pine, and bearing scarcely any 
symptoms of civilization. Brockville', upon the English 
bank, 50 miles from Kingston, is the prettiest town and 
situation I saw in Upper Canada. It is on the side of a 
hill, rising gradually from the St. Lawrence, with the 
Court-house and three churches on the summit, and the 
principal street running parallel with the water orna- 
mented with a fine row of trees. The country on the 
bank below the town becomes better cleared and culti- 
vated, with pretty hamlets and farm-houses, which are 
well opposed to the dense dark forests on the American 
shore. 

Wearriv^ed at Prescott, 72 miles from Kingston, early 
in the evening; but the inn was in so dirty a state, and 
the whole town presented such an uninviting aspect, that 
we were induced, in spite of the necessity of subjecting 
o\ir baggage to the scrutiny of a custom-house officer, to 
cross the river to Ogdensburgh, immediately opposite, in 
f.he State of Nevv'-York, where we found a comfortable 
hotel. This town, which much differs in cleanliness of 
appearance from its Canadian neighbour, contains about • 
1200 inhabitants, and is situated at the mouth of the dark 
taarshy waters of the Oswegatche, which, flowing from 
the Black Lake, eight miles distant, unites here with the 
deep blue St. Lawrence. The remains of the barracks, 
originally built by the French, and occupied by the Bri- 
tish prior to the cession of the town in 1793, but burnt in 
the subsequent war, are seen on the point of land formed 
by the junction of the two streams. 

Prescott contains from 800 to 1000 inhabitants; and 



A subaltern's furlough. 53 

being the head of the small craft navigation from Mon- 
treal, and the foot of the sloop and steam navigation with 
Lake Ontario, much business is carried on in the for- 
warding of goods and travellers, and a vast deal more 
in the smuggling line. Endless are the disputes and 
broils on account of the seizure of a steam-boat which 
plies between the two towns every ten minutes for the 
convenience of passengers, who are not unfrequently 
well supplied with contraband goods. Broad cloths and 
English goods of every description being much cheaper 
in the Canadas than in the United States, the summer 
shoal of Yankee travellers unite pleasure and business 
in their tour to see the Falls of Niagara and the fortifi- 
cations at Quebec, by ordering their stock of apparel for 
the year at Montreal, thus evading the frontier duty. 
Many of the mercantile houses in Prescott and Ogdens- 
burq-h are connected. I had some conversation with a 
storekeeper who sat next to me at the table d'hote m the 
latter town, and, walking into a warehouse in Prescott 
the following day, found him busily employed there. He 
said he had another establishment on the opposite side 
of the river. 

Fort Wellington, a mud redoubt of considerable 
strength, is half a mile below Prescott. There is a 
larofe and strons: block-house in the interior, but the 
bomb-proof barracks have fallen m under the great pres- 
sure of earth upon the timber roofs. During the time 
the last war was so unpopular, in certain parts of the 
United States, that meetings of a favourable tendency to 
the British took place in many of the principal towns, a 
numerous party of the inhabitants assembled at Ogdens- 
burgh for the purpose of drawing up a remonstrance 
against the proceedings of the American government. 
The force in Fort Wellington, not aware of the circum- 
stances of the case, and observing a large crowd assem- 
bled about, a house in which the meeting was held, fired 
two or three shot amongst the traitorous orators, who 
speedily dispersed, postponing their discussions upon the 
subject sine die. 

The weather had now begun to be rather chilly, and 
we passed the evenings in sitting with our host, who was 

E* 



54 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 

an original in his way over the wood fire. He was a 
oative of one of the New England States, and migrated 
early in life, as one half of the young men do in that part 
of the country. "As soon as he knew the points of the 
compass," to use his own expression, he " cleared out 
from his native village, and bore off to the westward to 
pioneer his way through the woods." Chance brought 
him to the banks of the St. Lawrence, where, finding there 
was an opening, he established a tavern,., and realized a 
small fortune. After the lapse of some years, he revisited 
tl)e place of his birth ; but the appearance of every thing 
hud clianged. Scarcely any one knew him ; all his old 
S'lijioolfellows, with the exception of one in each family, 
" to look after the old folk," had gone ofl" into the Ohio 
country, and, in two hours, having satisfied the curiosity 
of every one, he determined upon returning to his old 
liaunts. My friend putting several questions to him re- 
specting elections for president, senators, and state repre- 
rsentatives, for two good hours " by Shrewsbury clock" 
did he hold forth upon the constitution. My head was 
.•sj.il) running upon what he had said about Fort Welling- 
ton so uncivilly dispersing the meeting at which he was 
prci^ent, and the French barracks at the mouth of the 
(>8wegatche. Once or twice I made an attempt to gain 
Home more information upon the subject, as being more 
It) my way, but all m.y efforts at putting in a word and 
changing the subject, when the old man stopped to take 
Irreath or cough, were received with " Stop a bit — I'll tell 
you — I a'int got through yet;" and, truly, at last I began 
to despair of his ever getting through. My friend's at- 
tention to his lecture, and the compliments he paid the 
old gentleman, so warmed his heart that he produced 
some beer (a most vile composition,) than which, he said 
'• there was not better in the old country." 1 tasted it ; 
and my friend, imprudently recommending it, could not 
escape without finishing the tankard, mine host encour- 
aging him the while, with "a'int it good? — you a'int 
finished it yet." 

After a detention of two days we succeeded in meeting 
with a bateau, which was proceeding down the St. Law- 
rence, a mode of travelling we considered preferable to a 



A subaltern's furlough 55 

heavy coach over a bad road. The boat had arrived the 
preceding evening at Prescott with fifty Irish emigrants, 
after a passage of 8| days from Montreal, and was re- 
turning with a cargo of 100 barrels of floar from the 
Cleveland mills in Ohio, which, after payment of a duty 
of one dollar per barrel, at the Coteau du Lac, where it 
crosses the frontier, is rated as Canadian flour, and finds 
its way to England in British vessels. The bateau was a 
strong-built craft, from 40 to 45 feet in length and 7 or 8 
in width, and being heavily laden, so much preparation 
was made by nailinsf skirtinof-boards round the bulwarks 
to prevent the spray damaging the cargo that I imagined 
we had embarked upon rather a dangerous undertaking. 
We set sail, however, with a fine, ten-knot, westerly 
breeze, aud dashed through the water at a spanking rate. 
The crew consisted of four men to work the oars, when 
their use was required in a head wind, and a captain or 
steersman, who guided the boat with a long and broad 
scull They were all French Canadians, lively as usual 
and polite in their attentions. Though good sailors and 
navigators, they are but clumsy seamen in fresh water 
even, and in making sail, which consisted of a main- 
sail only, with the foot of it stretched along a boom, a 
haul-yard or rope of some description becoming jammed 
in the block, our captain lay out upon the yard-arm to 
set it free. His rig differed much from our notions of 
what a Jack Tar's dress should be, being a brown 
frock-coat which reached to his knees, coarse gray 
trowsers, a rusty old hat upon his head and his feet en- 
eased in a pair of Indian mocassins. The whole com- 
plement of navigators, captain included, were longer in 
setting our solitary piece of canvass than it would have 
occupied the crew in reefing topsails on board of a man- 
of-war Our steersman bore the character of being the 
steadiest and most able pilot upon the river, having been 
accustomed to the navigation of it for twenty years. He 
took the vessel down the first Rapid with sail set, 
which is considered rather an unusual thing, and so very 
slight was the inclination of the water that we began to 
think, if such were the far-famed Rapids of the St. Law- 
rence, that the whole affair was a complete bugbear. 



5(5 A subaltern's furlough. 

Passing sufficiently close to Crysler's farm on the left 
bank to see the riddled gable ends of the cottages, and the 
extent of the position where the American army were re- 
pulsed in November, 1814, when on their march to Mon- 
treal, we approached the Rapids of the Long Sault. Our 
sail was stowed snugly away some time before we came 
in sight of the white breakers, and, as soon as the bateau 
dashed into the heavy swell, it evidently became a dif- 
ficult matter to guide it. The steersman had laid his 
hat upon the deck, and his lips moved as he muttered a 
prayer to some favourite saint, whilst every nerve was 
strained in the guidance of his helm, as if the slightest 
deviation from a narrow track Avould subject us all to 
destruction. Upon the summit of every wave, the boat 
gave a bound forwards ; the centre of it yielding to the 
shock, rose and fell with the motion of the waves, and, 
when it entered an eddy at a bend in the river, the full power 
of th e oars was required to prevent it broaching to, when we, 
should have inevitably been lost. The descent on the Ca- 
nadian side of the river cannot be made, excepting for rafts 
of timber, and the only channel is by the terms of the treaty 
thrown entirely into the hands of the Americans, the is- 
lands being divided, b}^ each power taking the alternate 
one ; the island in this place lies between the Channel and 
the British shore. With an unskilful or timid pilot, the 
descent of the Rapids would be a perilous undertaking 
as any chance of safety by swimming would be hopeless; 
and for real pleasure one descent is quite sufficient. If I 
were ever to travel down the course of the St. Lawrence 
again, I should take the land conveyance from Prescott to 
Cornwall, though I never enjoyed myself more than 
during the five hours I was on board the bateau this day, 
and we outstripped the coach two hours and a half in the 
journey of fifty miles. We saw a steam-vessel which 
was off the stocks, and nearly completed, at Prescott, for 
the purpose of running down the smaller Rapids, and 
constructed upon a novel principle. The vessel was of 
grea! ength and extremely narrow in the beam, with six 
long cylindrical boilers, and the paddles astern, on the 
supposition that in ascending the stream they will propel 
the vessel quicker th.an paddies on the sides, which might 



A SUBALTERN'S FURLOUGH. 57 

retard its progress, by being opposed to the full power of 
the current. Four rudders were placed equi-distant on 
the stern, so as to give the steersman more command over 
the vessel in the violent eddies ; and, if the experiment 
answered in the smaller Rapids, it was intended to attempt* 
the passage of the Long Sault. 

While strolling about at Cornwall, which lies a little 
inland, we by chance fell in with a well-dressed Irishman 
of the farming class, who had been in the country only- 
two years. When he landed (to use his own words,) " he 
had not a tenpenny to bless himself with," but hired him- 
self out as a labourer at eight dollars per month ; and as. 
the winter set in, being an athletic man, he soon became 
an expert lumberer, and earned from fifteen to twenty 
dollars in the woods, in felling timber upon the Crown 
lands. He had, by being frugal and temperate, managed 
to lay by so much money that he had now purchased a 
farm of 150 acres, near Williamstown, some miles in the 
interior, with an agreement that the whole of the pur- 
chase-money should be paid in two years. He was like 
all Canadian farmers, very independent, in one sense of 
the word, being his own baker, butcher, tallow-chandler, 
cider-brewer, sugar-boiler, soap-maker, and, in short a 
f omplete jack of all trades. I never met a man so de- 
lighted with his prospects : and he seemingly attributed 
all his good fortune to not having been encumbered 
with a wife and family when he was in less prosperous 
circumstances. 

After passing a most miserable night, tossing about in 
a heated room, and disturbed by the whipping and scream- 
ing of children, and the scolding of mothers, we embarked 
on the morning ofthe 28th of August on board a steamer, 
at that most uncomfortable of all hours a-board a ship, — 
live o'clock, when the passengers are all asleep in the 
cabin, the crew are washing and swabbing the decks, 
and a thick cold mist rises from the surface of thewater. 
The boundary line between the British territories and the 
United States runs on the verge of the village of St. Regis, 
where the Irroquois tribe of Indians have a large settle- 
ment, a few miles below Cornwall, and just within the 
Canadian frontier. Their priest, a French Canadian, 



58 A subaltern's furlough. 

came on board, and accompanied us to Montreal : he was 
a sensible, well-informed man, and told us, in the course 
o( conversation, that he was a native of Quebec, and had 
never been out of the Provinces, though he intended visit- 
ing Europe the ensuing season. His whole tribe, 800 in 
number, were Catholics, and, with the exception of 70 or 
SO, much addicted to drink, their mode of life (being 
employed in the arduous work of transporting goods up 
the river to Prescott) rather encouraging their natural 
inclination for spirituous liquors. The cholera had been 
raging amongst them violently, eighty of the tribe having 
died in a very short space of time, the priest performing 
the duties of surgeon in addition to his own. He was 
evidently a worthy man and much esteemed by the tribe ; 
all the Indians we met upon the road, and even in the 
streets of Montreal, sixty miles distant, saluted him by 
touching their hats and smiling with pleasure when they 
saw him. Throughout the country every one spoke in 
high terms of the exemplary conduct of the priests during 
the prevalence of the disease. The Irroquois have a 
Second village at St. Louis, of five hundred inhabitants, 
within a few miles of Montreal, and there is a third of 
four hundred farther down the St. Lawrence. We were 
informed by the priest that daring the war of 1812, and 
the two ensuinof years, the tribe took an oath at the 
altar, before entering the field, that they would not 
commit any cruelties upon their prisoners, nor even scalp 
their enemies when dead, and that in no single instance 
was this sacred pledge broken. They had bestowed one 
of their significant, fine-sounding names upon him, the 
pronunciation of which I in vain attempted to learn, but 
the interpretation of it was, " The man who carries the 
work :" that of his predecessor in the pastoral duties had 
been "the rising moon," from his eyes being generally 
fixed upon the heavens. 

At the village of Coreau du Lac, at the lower extremity 
of Lake St. Francis, we took coaches through a flat but 
well-cleared country, with a continued street of French 
settlers' houses on the road side. At the Coteau Rapids 
there is a fort of considerable extent; and a few miles 
further are the Cedars, the prettiest Rapids on the St, 



A subaltern's furlough. 59 

Lawrence, where a detachment of General Amherst^ s 
army was lost through the imskilfulness of the pilots, 
when moving down to the attack of Montreal in 1760. 
A canal is now excavating for the purpose of avoiding 
these Rapids, which are more dangerous than any of the 
others, the water being shallower. As we passed them 
the wreck of a bateau w^as visible above the surface. At 
a point of land below the Cedars we again embarked in 
a steamer, and, proceeding through Lake St. Clair, passed 
a fort erected during the late war by a Convent at Mon-j 
treal in a spirit of loyalty. It appeared to be kept in ex- 
cellent repair, and formed a pretty object upon a head- 
land of the smooth lake. A cross erected on its summit 
betokened its present unwarlike occupation, and accord- 
ingly we found it now the residence of nuns. 

At the village of Lachine, on the island of Montreal, 
we again landed, and took coaches through a densely- 
populated country, and on that account more closely re- 
semxbiing Europe than any district I had seen in Ame- 
rica. The suburbs Of Montreal are muck like those of a 
French town, and crowded with small taverns with seats 
and trees in front of them. Signs are suspended across 
the street, upon Avhich all the good things that may be 
obtained within the house are recounted, and inscriptions 
in both languages attract the traveller. One or two dis- 
pensers of cafe and eau-de-vie have soared higher than 
their neighbours, and posted up some such couplet as the 
following : — 

" Belfast Hotel, 
Good morning, friends — 
Come in and rest — there's yet a chair, 
As you can have refreshment here." 

The city, when viewed from the low range of hills 
upon which the road is formed, has much the appearance 
of a European town The approach to it from Lachine, 
nine miles distant, is exceedingly fine, the city being 
backed by the broad St. Lawrence and a bold mountain- 
ous country ; but, upon entering it, we passed through 
such narrow and filthy streets, that it seemed to me suf- 
ficient to account for the dreadful mortality which had 



60 A subaltern's furlough. 

taken place from the cholera. Every seventh person had 
been cut oif in the course of a few weeks, and every one 
seen in the streets showed by his dress that he was 
mourning the loss of a relative or a friend. At the time 
the disease was raging* with the greatest violence, there 
being from 170 to 200 deaths daily, out of a population 
of 32,000, a stranger entered the city, in his appearance 
almost resembling an Indian Faquir. His beard had 
been unshorn for weeks ; his attire was tattered, and but 
little better than that of a common mendicant. He carried 
several small cases suspended from his neck, containing 
hog's lard, maple sugar, and charcoal, with which he 
proclaimed he would check the fury of the disease, and 
exposed himself wherever his assistance was required 
without receiving any remuneration. Many of the people 
looked upon him as being deranged, and held him up to 
ridicule; but others, who had seen whole families of their 
dearest friends swept off in a single day, were anxious 
to catch at any thing which bore even a most distant 
chance of cure along with it. Whether from having" 
faith in these his simple medicines, or that they actually 
had some effect, I know not, but they grew so into repute 
that, when I arrived at Montreal, the " Charcoal Doctor,"' 
(as he was called) was esteemed by some as no less than 
their guardian angel. I saw a long letter addressed to 
him, signed by nearly 200 people whom he had attended, 
and who did not hesitate to say that they considered him 
as sent by Divine Power to their assistance. He was 
now residing in an eminent practitioner's house, and still 
attended persons without making any charge for his ser- 
vices, only whoever required them paid for the hire of a 
carriage, his practice being too extensive for a pedestrian. 
I never could ascertain, nor could any one, I believe. 
have informed me, whence he came, who he was, or any 
thing about his previous life. There were, of course, 
ten thousand surmises, but the general opinion appeared 
to be that he was an American, from one of the New 
England States, and had been residing among the Indian 
tribes for many years, until accident had informed him of 
the dreadful pestilence raging in Montreal. 



A. subaltern's furlough. 



CHAPTER V. 



The death of General Wolfe was a national loss, universally la- 
mented. Brave above all estimation of danger, he was also gene- 
rous, gentle, complacent, and humane: the pattern of the officer, 
the darling of the soldier. 

Smollett. 

A death more glorious, and attended with circumstances more 
picturesque and interesting, is nowhere to be found the annals of 
history. 

Belsham. 

With less of good fortune, but not less of heroism, expired the 
equally gallant Montcalm. 

Marshall. 

The island upon which Montreal is built is about 32 
miles in length and 7 in breadth, and formed at the junc- 
tion of the Ottawa, or Grand River, which divides the 
Upper from the Lower Province, and the St Lawrence. 
The black waters of the former river do not mix with 
those of the St. Lawrence even at the city, which is ten 
miles below the union of the two streams; but a distinct 
line or bouudery between their waters can be seen at a 
considerable distance. This circumstance gave rise to the 
old Indian saying of, " As soon shall the waters of the 
Ottawa mix with those of the St. Lawrence as the blood 
of the red man with that of the pale faces." The river 
in front of the city is nearly two miles wide, but the depth 
is only sufficient for brigs and ships of small burden, of 
which but a very fev/ lay in the stream at this time, though 
more mercantile business is transacted here than at Que- 
bec. A noble quay extends for some distance along the 
margin of the water, and, being constructed of good sub- 
stantial materials, is a great ornament to the city; it was 
only just completed, from the design of Captain Piper (I 
believe) of the Royal Engineers. 

The prettily wooded island of St. Helens, two miles in 
circumference, lies opposite the town. There is a srnall 
fort and barracks at its lower extremity, which must, how 
ever, have been constructed only for the purpose of dis- 

VOL. II. — F. 

I 



62 A subaltern's furlough. 

puting" the passage of the St. Lawrence, as the rocks ris^ 
so closely behind some of the buildings, that a moderately 
active man might leap without much exertion on to their 
roofs, or a small party of riflemen might subject the gar- 
rison to great annoyance. It is the grand dep5t of artil- 
lery and military stores for Canada: and, judging from 
late circumstances, such an establishment is much re- 
quired. The 15th regiment of foot were encamped amongst 
the trees, having been withdrawn from their quarters in 
the city in consequence of the cholera having made such 
havoc in the ranks; and, though at this time only half a 
mile distant from their barracks, not a single case had 
occurred since their residence in the island. 

The mountain from which the city derives its name 
rises about 700 feet above the level of the river, and two 
miles in rear of Montreal. The summit and half way 
down its sides are covered with forest, but the base is oc- 
cupied by some neat houses, with gardens and ornameu* 
tal grounds. 

The city possesses some fine public buildings, of which 
the Catholic Cathedral is probably superior to any thing 
of the kind on the whole American Continent, or any- 
structure of the 19th century. The funds failed before it 
was completed; the tower, therefore, and some of the ex- 
terior ornamental work are unfinished. It is of dark 
gray stone, and built after the Gothic style of architecture. 
The dimensions of the interior are 255 by 130 feet, and 
it is capable of containing 12,000 people, there being two 
galleries on each side of it. The vaulted roof is support- 
ed by eighteen columns, stained in bad imitation of mar- 
ble, and, with great want of good taste, has been chequer- 
ed Avith alternate black and white stripes, which detract 
mucPi from its beauty. At the south end, there is a larger 
stained window, representing the ascension of our Sa- 
riour, but in my opinion executed in too gaudy a style to 
be pleasing: bright greens, and yellow, which are the 
predominant colours, neither have a good eflfect, nor do 
they throw a soft and mellowed shade over the body of 
the church. 

I was shown through the convent of Grey Nuns by a 
garrulous veteran of the 2yth regiment, who had joine:^ 



A subaltern's furlough. 63 

his corps in Canada in 1785, and the Hospital in 1791, 
having lost his left leg by accident. His recoUeclions of 
England were indeed very faint; he had an indistinct idea 
that it was not so well wooded as America, that turnpike 
roads were more general, and that the population was 
rather thicker upon the ground, but nothing farther. He 
asked me if I was acquainted with Mr. Walter of Lon- 
don, and Mr. So-and-so of Liverpool ; and though by his 
own account he was a native of some village in Hertford- 
shire, 1 overheard him telling one of the nuns that he 
came from the same town as myself and was well ac- 
quainted with my family ! The Hospital or Convent 
(for it is known by both names) is situated between the 
St. Lawrence and a deep, dirty creek, over which a stone 
arch was erecting, so as to cover it in, the prevalence 
of the cholera having been partly attributed to the un- 
wholesome effluvia arising from it. It is a large, heavy 
pile of building, and has been much augmented of late 
years; the Chapel was also now enlarging by means of 
funds transmitted from France, and, when 1 entered it, the 
fat old superior and t\\ o of the sisters were planning im- 
provezTit'Dts, assisted by a host of carpenters and masons. 
All religions, sects, and nations, are alike admitted ; and 
but lately the representatives of nine diflfc rent nations were 
within its walls. Every room was ntat and clean, and 
the inmates appeared as comfortable and happy as infirm 
and aged people could be. Including from filty to sixty 
orphans, there were no fewer than SCO inmates, but a 
striking difTerence was cTpparent between the care and at- 
tention paid to the legitimate and illegitimate children, 
he were not on!}'' in separate rooms, but the former were 
ikr neater in their personal appearance, and bore evident 
symptoms of being better cared for than the others, who 
it would seem were supposed to have less powerful claims. 
A considerable income is derived from the sale of little 
fancy articles made by the nuns, of whom there are near- 
ly tliiity, and by the children, every visitor purchasing a 
few, for which he generally pays well without scruple, 
having been witness to the excellence and benefit of the 
institution. Though I visited it as early as half past 10 



64 A subaltern's furlough. 

oVIock, I found old and young sitting down at well-co- 
vexed dinner tables. 

The Catholic is the prevailing religion in the city, 
and the Seigniory of the island is held by the clergy of 
that church, from which, with a heavy per centage upon 
ihe transfer by sale of all real estates, a large revenue is 
derived. Though so many English and Scotch reside in 
the city, the French language is very generally spoken, 
and but few of the natives of the lower class speak the 
English fluently. The shops are very excellent, and I 
never saw in one place so many for the sale of clothes, 
the entire street of Notre Dame being occupied by them. 
The Markethouse is not only a shalby, but a dirty build- 
ing; at the head of it is a monument erected to Nelson, 
about thirty feet in height, surmounted by his statue, with 
an inscription and relievos u; on the pedestal. Adjoining 
it is the Place d'Armes, alevel'ed platform on the side of 
the hill upon which the city stands. Its length is about 
300 yards, and breadth 100, and is a fine promenade, but 
no ornamental buildings front upon it. One side over- 
looks some fields, and the others are formed by the rear of 
4he gaol and some common private dwellings. The Ho- 
tels are excellent, and the British American, where I re- 
sided during my stay at Montreal is very comfortable 
~-^in fact, the finest house for the accommodation of travel- 
lers in the Canadas. A person is there relieved from 
witnessing the disaoreeable habits socommon in the Unit- 
ed States; the habits indeed of the Provincialists differ but 
very little from those of the old country. 

At the time of our arrival, the Court of King's Bench 
liad opened, and the trial of two British officers (Colonel 
M'lntosh and Captaiti Temple o^'the 15th foot) was tak- 
ing place, for firing upon a mob during election riots in 
the month of May, by which three men (French Cana- 
dians) were killed and several Avounded. The coroner's 
jury could not agree upon any verdict, and bills were sub- 
mitted to the grand jury, charging the officers withmur-^ 
der. They were finally honourably acquitted, and re- 
ceived public thanks from the Governor-General for theit 
conduct during the election. There was indeed little 
doubt that, but for the praiseworthy conduct of the ma- 



A subaltern's furlough. 66 

g-istrate who called the troops out upon that occasion, the 
city of Montreal would have been subject to similar scenes 
which have taken place elsewhere, when a mob has gain- 
ed the ascendancy. There appeared, I was sorry to see, 
a most violent ill-will existing between the French and 
English settlers, which was carried to an extraordinary 
pitch on the side of the former, who in their public meet- 
ino-s did not hesitate to accuse the British Government 
of sending a torrent of Protestant emigrants "to wrest 
their native country from them, and'' (to quote the lan- 
guage of one of their orators) "to obtain the disposal of a 
property which ought to serve as an outlet for the in- 
dustry of the Canadian youth, and as an asylum for their 
posterity." But he yet hoped "that they might preserye 
their nationality, and avoid these future calamities, by 
opposing a barrier to this torrent of emigration." A re- 
solution to the same intent was passed at a meeting held 
at St. Charles's, at which opulent and influential persons^ 
who had filled high and honourable posts in the colony, 
took a lead. The Montreal Herald, an able and well- 
conducted paper, in noticing the proceedings of this meet- 
ing, says of the above resolution, "This uneasiness about 
the uncultivated lands arises from the anxiety of a party 
(who have long lived upon the delusive dream of on© 
day reverting to France, or being able to revolutionize 
Canada) to arrest emigration, and thus prevent the settle- 
ment of those lands by British subjects, which must of 
course strenghten the hands of the Government, and for 
ever dissipate the ridiculous idea of ' La nation Cana- 
dienne.^ " At this same meeting the British were also ac- 
cused of having introduced the cholera into Canada; or,. 
in the words of the resolution itself (the 13th,) "That 
England will, in any case, have to justify herself, for 
having suffered so considerable an emigration at a tim«» 
when she was under the frightful influence of the cholera., 
which by this means has been introduced into this colony, 
the climate of which is the most hea'thy in all America, 
and has covered it with mourning and desolation." In 
its remarks upon this suhjtct, the same paper says, 
" It is impossible not to be struck with the impious pre- 
sumption, and reckless disregard of truth, which to serya 

J* 



A subaltern's furlough. 



the hostile views of these leaders, and excite the prejudices 
of the people against the new population, dares to charge 
the mother country with the wilful introduction of a pesti- 
lence from which the All-wise Disposer of events has not 
exempted these provinces or this continent, and which has 
been felt with more or less severity in almost every part 
of the habitahle globe. The resolution, though puerile, is 
important, from showing how far these derr a gogues pre- 
sume on the ignorance of their followers, and the mon- 
strous fabrications they dare to palm upon the deluded and 
ignorant people, as serious and irrefragabV. truths." 1 
must confess that the little I saw and heard of the French 
Canadians impressed me with very unfavourable opinions 
of them. In the full enjoyment of their own religion, civil 
laws, and political rights — burdened by no taxes of any 
description— with free trade, and England's prctection, they 
were dissatisfied and discontented. Not the slightest wish 
to improve the state of the country w^as any where visible ; 
but every public undertaking of any im|ortarce was the 
work of too kind a step-mother. I do not view the circum- 
stance of their forming themselves into i^olunteer corps, at 
the breaking out of the late war, as originating in pure 
loyalty to their sovereign, but rather in a desire to defend 
their own property, and because they would prefer being 
the spoilt and indulged children of England to falling 
under the dominion of the United States, which would 
shortly inundate them with a torrent of speculators and 
enterprising men. as well as lay a few taxes upon their 
shoulders. I had crossed the frontier with the expecta- 
tion of finding one of the happiest and most loyal nations 
in the world ; but, as far as my judgment w^ent, found it 
far otherwise. To me the Canadians appeared utterly 
devoid of that spirit of enterprise which dis.'^inguishes the 
English and American settlers ; and, though three-fourths 
of the inhabitants of Lower Canada (or nearly 300,000) 
are of French descent, they are almrst confined to the 
original settlements, along a narrow strip en the banks of 
the St. Lawrence, where they have impoverished the soil 
by their slovenly system -of farming. 

Leaving Montreal at 8 o'clock in the evening, I lost 
a view of the scenery below the town, and of Sorell at the 



A subaltern's furlougk, 67 

mouth of the Chaniblee or Sorell River, where the Go- 
verrjor-Geni ral usually passes some of the summer months. 
But the recollection of our two hours' stay there is w,e[\ 
impressed upon my memory. It was about midnight 
when we arrived, and the fe\v passengers (only sixteen in 
number) had early retired to their berths. The vessel was 
scarcely moored alongsidethe pier ere I was awaked from 
a sound shop by the violent screams of some poor man 
whom the crew were carrying ashore, just attacked by the 
cholera. I had been suffering much the preceding Aveek 
from an illness which at one time threatc ned to take a 
dangerous turn, and had not yet recovert (1 from the effects 
of it. I shall never forgxt the misery I endured the re- 
mainder of that night ; I threw myself off my cot, and 
walked the upper deck in the cold night air, while the 
screams of agony still rung in my ears, and paced up and 
down until dawn of day, by which timc^ I had mustered 
up all my stoicism, and was prepared for any event. A 
naturally good constitution, however, in a few days ena- 
bled me again to undergo almost any fatigue. 

The steamers on the Si. Lawrence, between Montreal 
and Quebec, are superior to those even on the American 
waters which had so much surprised me. The "British 
America" and "John Bull" are fitted up in a magnificent 
style, and are comphte floating drawing-rooms. The di- 
mensions of the latter are on the grandest scale, being 
188 feet in h ngth by 70 in breadth, the wings included, 
and about 1200 tons burden. Its name is well merited, 
having towed six vessels, two of them of 350 tons, from 
Quebec up to Montreal, at onetime. The traveller may 
really experience something like comfort on board of them, 
there not being the crowd cf passengers, nor the scramble 
for meals, to which he is so accustomed in the States, 

The country below the town of Trois Rivieres, at the 
mouth of the St. Maurice, becomes more diversified, af- 
fording occasional views of rising hillsbelow Quebec, and 
long streets of houses with white roofs and walls, which 
when first seen at a distance on the loft}?^ banks of the river^ 
may be easily mistaken for a large encampment. The 
Flench settlers usually paint the roofs white, as tending 
to preserve the shingles of which they are constructedj 



68 A isubaltirn's furlough* 

and also to repel the heat of the sun's rays. I have seen 
many washed in this manner from the foundation to 
the ridge-pole, and the chimney painted black; 1 always' 
thought they bore a close resemblance to a negro ^^omaIl 
deck'^d out in her best bib and tucker. After passing the 
mouth of the Chaiidiere River, over which a fnebritgeof 
one arch is thrown, and entering Wolfe's Cove, the ship- 
ping and fortress of Quebec begin to open out from behind 
a promontory ; and few places can boast of so magnificent 
an approach. The bold craggy rocks of Cape Diamond, 
crowned with the impregnable fortiess, stand in bold re* 
lief against the sky; numerous ships lieattheir anchorage 
in the broad and smoolh river, S£0 feet beneath, between 
the citadel and point Levi; and in the distance a lofty 
range of blue hills form a fine background to a level ana 
thickly-populated country. For some time the old and 
picturesque buildings only of the lower town at the water's 
edge are visible ; nor until wnthin the distance of half a 
mile from Point Levi does the upper town, with its nii> 
merous glittering spires and convent roofs, begin to show 
itself on the opposite side of the citadel, or. the more pro- 
minent object, the castle of St. Lewis, the residence of 
the Governor-General. It is supported upon the e(^,ge of 
the precipice by large buttresses under the foundation of 
the outer walls of the building, and almost overhangs the 
houses at the margin of the water. But all these favour- 
able impressions are dispelled upon ent^eiing the dirty 
narrow streets of the lower town ; nor was it until after 
much perseverance that we obtained accommodation of a 
▼ery indifferent kind in the upper town. The principal 
hotel had been closed, without any consideration for the 
comfort of a few travellers, as scon as the cholera broke 
out, the landlord finding that he was a loser by keeping* 
the establishment open. 

The capital of Lower Canada occupies the tongue ofn 
peninsula formed by the junction of the St. Charles with 
the St. Lawrence, and contains upwards of 20,000 people. 
The upper town is encircled by a strong wall nearly three 
miles in extent, with batteries at intervals, and is entered 
by five gates, the principal one from the harbour being- at. 
the summit of a steep and winding road up the side of th» 



A subaltern's furlough. 69 

rock. The lower town is built in some ploces upon piers, 
and land reclaimed fom the river; in ethers by under- 
mining the base of the rock. Instances have occurred 
(one during my residt nee in America) of iarge j oi lions of 
it giving wa)'^ and rushing down upon the re ofs of the 
houses from a height of two or three htndrtd feet. 

The citadel, which is the great lion cf'.heplace, t ccupies a 
large proporticp of the upper loA\n, ard is situated upon 
the highest part of Cape Diau ond, a hard but hi ittle rock 
with quartz crystals interspersed. The stone, however, 
is not of a fit quality for the fortificat;ons, and the mate- 
rials used in their construction are brought by the St. 
Lawrence from Montreal to the foot of an inclined plane, 
whieh has been corslructed from the river in!o the in- 
terior of the citadel, and hoisted up the railway by means 
of machinery. Great additions were making within thr 
fortress, but the old French walls, erected during the time 
of Montcalm, and which the engineers were facing afresh, 
were yet firm. Much yet remains lo be done in the in- 
terior, and even on the exterior works on the lace towards 
the plains of Abraham. 

An obelisk has lately been erected by the officers of the 
Sfarrison to the memory of Wolfe and Montcalm, in front 
of the government gardens. It is 65 feet in height, but 
bears no inscription, nor even the names of the h roes in 
whose honour it was ereened. Ihe plains upon uhichboth 
fell lie about a mile to the west of the citadel, IVom which 
the ground rises and falls in small and abrupt undulations. 
The field of action is yet open, and used as a race-course ; 
but the rock apainst which the British general reclined, 
when dying (near a redoubt which may le even now 
traced out on the borders of the plains,) Avas destroyed by 
blasting with gunpowder seme time since, the Vandalic 
proprietor of the garden in which it was situated com- 
plaining that his fences were injured by the curiosity of 
visitors. There is a figure of Wolfe carved in aa ood, and 
fastened at the side of a house at an at gle ef a street 
about 12 feet from the ground, which has always been 
considered an excellent likeness. "^Ilie General nppearsin. 
rather a strange costume for a warrior : a doubh bre^asted 
red frock coat with yellow facings, cocked hat, yellow top- 



70 A subaltern's furlough. 

boots, white breeches, and white shoulder-belt for his 
sword ; his position — one arm a-kimbo, and the other ex- 
tended as in the attitude of giving orders. The spot 
where General Montgomery was killed in his attack upon 
Q,uebec on the night of the 31st of December, 1775, is 
within a few pacts ( f the foot of the inclined plant-, and 
his Tv mains were interred, until 1818 (when they were re- 
moved to New-Yoik,) ntar the gate of St. Lewis. 

The Jesuits' Convent, \\ hich reveitt d to the Crown some 
years since, is now occupied by a regiment of infar^try, 
and makes an excellent and capacious barrack. What w^as 
the f thers' pleasure-oaidtn in olden times is now the 
parade ground. In other respects, it apptars to have 
undergone very little change (except with regard to its 
occupants ) being surmountt d by the old spire, and retain- 
ing the stiong iion-stuc'dtd gates, with the sacred devices 
upon them. On the opposite side of the market-place is 
the large and ungraceful building of the Roman Catholic 
Cathedral, where I attended one day at the performance 
of high mass, but vvasglad to make my escape again into the 
open air, such a dense crowd was there in every part of 
it. As in Montreal, the Catholic clergy possesses an exten- 
sive property in Gluebec. The seminary which adjoinsthe 
Cathedral occupies, together w^ith its garden, seven acres 
of ground in the upper tow n, the U rsuline Convent pos- 
sesses as much more, and the Hotel Dieu even as much 
as twelve; so that, what with the citadel, convents, 
churches, barracks, and open squares, the population of 
the upper town is reduced to a mere cypher compared with 
its extent. 

The old parliament-house situated near the gate lead- 
ing from the St. Lawrence on the easttrn side of the 
town, was formerly the residence of the Catholic bishops. 
It is a crazy old edifice, and much requires the support 
of a new w'ing, which is now erecting. Within a few 
yards of it, over the door of a shop, opposite the post-of- 
fice, is the rude representation of a dog gnawing a bone, 
which it holds between its fore paws. The whole heart 
the marks of having at one time been richly gilded and 
ornamented. Upon the same tablet is the following ii^^ 
scription :-— 



A subaltern's furlough. 71 

Je suis un Chien qui ronge Pos — 
En le rongeani je prend mon repos — 
Un tenis viendra, qui n'est pas venu — 
Clue je mordrai qui m'aura niordu. 
1736. 

For the solution of these enisfmatical lines I was oblio-ed 
to an officer in the garrison of Gluebec. The story is, 
that some ninety or a hundred years since a Mr. Phiilibert, 
a merchant in the city, and Mr. Bigot, a gentleman at the 
head of the financial department under the French govern- 
ment, were not upon amicable terms. The latter em> 
braced every opporlunity of oppressing the other, who, 
not possessing sufficient influence to have his complaints 
against his powerful enemy redressed, took the above 
poetical means of preferring them. Mr. Bigot's cause 
was soon taken up by an officer of the garrison, who 
plunged his sword through Mr. Phillibert's body as he 
was descending the hill, and made his escape to the French 
settlement of Pondicherry in the East Indies, where he in 
turn was killed in a duel with the brother of Mr. Philli- 
bert, who had left France for the purpose of avenging th& 
murder of his brother. 

Although there is little of interest in Cluebec itself, yet 
the surrounding scenery is sufficient to compensate for 
any loss. In company with two English gentlemen, I 
made an excursion on the 1st of September to the Falls 
of Montmorenci, about seven miles from the city. The 
foad crosses the St. Charles River over a long wooden 
bridge, and becomes execrably bad as soon as the out- 
skirts of the lower town are passed, although a continued 
line of houses and small farms extend the entire distance. 
The hills which run parallel with the river, at the dis- 
tance often or twelve mib-s, form the boundary of the 
narrow belt of cultivation. Putting our horses up at the 
small French inn on the banks of the Montmorenci, we 
walked down to view the Falls , but with what far differ- 
ent feelings from those with which we had visited Nia* 
gara three weeks before ! We had been told every whers 
in Quebec of the Falls of Montmorenci, and consequently 
fonsidered ourselves, as travellers, in duty bound to visil 
them, though, had each of us spoken the candid truth, vfft 



72 A subaltern's furlough, 

should have said we had seen quite sufficient falls of wa- 
ter to sitisfy the taste of any moderate man. And really 
Niagira, the great climax of every thing grand in a ca- 
taract, o-ives one a sad distaste for all future sights of that 
description No one, unless he is blessed with the happy 
talent of forgetting thino-s as soon as he has seen them, 
should venture near another fall for at least a twelve- 
month after he has seen that at Niagara. If he does, it 
is ten to one that he annoys his friends who act as chape- 
rons upon the occasion, by showing the most perfect in- 
difference, or something even approaching to sovereign 
contempt, at the sight. 

At Montmorenci the Fall itself is every thing : there 
are no grand accompaniments. The water shoots in a 
sheet about 120 feet broad over a precipice to the depth of 
24J feet, and then rolling onwards a few hundred yards 
unites with those of the St. Lawrence. The banks on 
each side of it are smooth and precipitous, with their 
summits crowned with trees, and a mill is perched on 
high upon the verge of the Fall. There is, however, a 
fine view of Quebec, and the isle of Orleans which forms 
the eastern side of the noble harbour, from the junction 
of the rivers. One of my companions and myself thought 
proper to ford the Montmorenci below the Falls, where it 
is 1500 feet broad, to the ruins of a large saw-mill upon 
the opposite side, for the purpose of ascertaining the 
depth of water and forming some idea of the difficulty of 
the heroic Wolfe's enterprise when he stormed the French 
batteries under a heavy fire. In twenty-five minutes we 
gained the opposite bank, having narrowly escaped being 
washed off our legs several times; but our wounded feet, 
(owing to the sharp edges of rocks,) with cramped and 
stiff legs for the next forty-eight hours, gave us ample 
cause to repent our undertaking. The mill, which was 
the most extensive in the province, had, by some strange 
accident or neglect, been consumed by fire a few months 
previous, though a sufficient body of water could have 
been thrown upon it to have almost w\ashed away the 
entire building. A broad and deep water-course conducts 
a powerful stream from above the Falls along the summit 
of the bank until immediatelv above the mill, when it 



A subaltern's furlough. 7S 

rushes down an inclined plane of 300 feet in length, witii 
amazing power upon the wheels. From it, conductors 
were so arranged as to lead the Avater throughout the 
building in case of necessity, hut all appeared to have 
been of no avail in staying the destruction. Several acres 
of ground were covered with the timber which had been 
prepared for exportation. Wolfe's Cove also was so dense- 
ly covered with it that it was like one huge raft ; and, 
notwithstanding thirty or forty vessels were taking in, it 
made no perceptible diminution, 



YO.L. n. 



T4 A subaltern's furlough. 



CHAPTER VI 

The wind it was fair, and the moon it shone 

Serenely on the sea, 
And the vessel it danc'd o'er the rippling waves, 

And moved on gallantly. 

Old Ballas^./ 

Where cliffs, moors, marshes, desolate tlie view. 
Where haunts the bittern, and wliere screams the mew, 
Where prowls the wolf, where rolled the serpent lies, 
Shall solemn fanes and hall;- of justice rise, 
And towns shall open (all of structure fair) 
To bright'ning prospects and to purest air. 



Previous to the appearance of the cholera, a steamer 
plied between Quebec and Halifax in Nova Scotia, but, 
owing to the long quarantine imposed upon vessels arriv- 
ing at the latter port without a Bill of Health, the pro- 
prietors declined making any further trips until duebec 
should be pronounced free from infection. This w^as a 
most unexpected impediment to the tour I had meditated 
through the Eastern provinces, and the uncertainty of the 
length of voyage in a sailing vessel was such that I cam«j 
to the resolution of making an overland journey through 
the dense forests, or paddling myself in a canoe down the 
rivers into New-Brunswick. My time, too, being very 
limited, it was necessary that I should either pursue that 
course or lay aside all thoughts of seeing any thing fur- 
ther of the B ritish Provinces. My friends attempted to dis- 
suade me from the undertaking, on account of the lateness 
and unhealthiness of the season, and the weight of a hair 
would almost have turned the scale, when I fortunately 
became acquainted with Mr. Reid (a gentleman from 
Georgia,) who having much the same object in view as 
myself, we agreed to make the journey in company. Hav- 
ing, therefore, laid in a small stock of provisions, a hot* 
tie of laudanum, a whole box full of opium pills, with & 
suitable qua iility of eau-de-Cologne and eau-de-vie, as a pre- 
caution against the cholera, we set sail with a light wes* 
lerly breeze down the broad St. Lawrence at mid-day on 



FURLOUGH. 75 

the 3d of September. As the weather appeared settled 
and plea&ant, we preferred taking- an open pilot-boat to 
travelling in a carriage over a hundred miles of roiigh 
road, and at considerable additional expense, the owner of 
the land conveyance having the conscience to demand fif- 
teen dollars (3/. sterling) per diem for the trip. 

Being ebb tide, we glided rapidly past the isle of Orleans, 
where those huge floating masses of timber, the Columbus 
and Baron Renfrew, were put together, and, by the time 
the flood had set in, were thirty-eight miles from Quebec; 
when, not havirig sufficient breeze to stem the tide, we 
came to an anchor. The sun had set some time, but it 
was a mild and pleasant evening, with a bright moon shin- 
ing overhead, and every star in the heavens so clearly 
reflected in the smooth mirror upon which we lay that 
indeed we should have been insensible to the charms of 
nature, had we not been delighted with our situation. 
Thinking that music would well accord with the time and 
place, I produced a flute from the depths of my port- 
manteau ; and having in my earlier days learned the 
gamut, "God save the King," "the British Grenadiers," 
and a quick step or two, favoured my companion and the 
pilot with a solo. Though, probably, not equalling the 
strains of Orpheus, it had some effect upon the crew of a 
schooner which lay at anchor about two cables' length 
abeam of us. A deep and hoarse voice immediately 
hailed us across the water to come a little nearer to them, 
followed when we spurned their invitation (rather rudely 
I must confess,) by a most authoritative order "to strike 
up ' Hearts of Oak,' or they would board us." Now, 
having no ladies in our company, as was the case with the 
old story of Dr. Young and the guardsmen upon the 
Thames, we had no plea for consenting ; so sounding 
*" Britons, strike Home," we boldly defied them to mortal 
combat. Not knowing, however, with what force they had 
10 contend, they contented themselves with saluting us 
with a broadside of most mellifluous sea-phrases, and 
firing at intervals half a dozen rounds of small arms, well 
loaded with powder. 

Although the night was so lovely, I cannot say that 
we by any means passed a comfortable one The boat 



7l)i A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 

having no deck, and being too narrow in the beam to 
admit of reclining at full length on the thwarts, we were 
obliged to sleep in a sitting posture on the bottom, with 
the back of our heads against the edge of a seat, and ac- 
cordingly each of us awoke in the morning with a neck 
as stiff as that of a raw militia-man in his patent leather 
stock upon the first training day. Getting early under 
weigh, we beat slowly down against a head wind, and 
passed the quarantine station off a rocky island 45 miles 
from Quebec. A drizzling rain coming on at mid- day, 
and increasing to torrents, accompanied by a heavy gale 
towards sunset, rendered us in a most miserable plight. 
The river was now ten miles in breadth, and, a heavy 
sea rising, my companion became very unwell. The 
pilot soon followed his example ; and I, not doubting 
but that it must be the cholera, busied myself in search- 
ing for the laudanum, brandy, and opium pills, which^ 
as is ever the case when things are most required, were 
not found until the whole contents of my portmanteau 
had been turned out upon the wet deck. All my fears, 
however, respecting cramps in the legs, and other alarm- 
ing symptoms, were quite unnecessary. '' Parturiunt 
montes ; nascetur ridiculus m.us:" the upshot of all was — 
they were only troubled with that very common com- 
plaint, or rather, I should call it, worst of all miseries — 
sea-sickness ! 

A thick fog coming on at dusk, with flood tide, the pilot 
informed us that, not knowing whereabouts the land lay, 
he dare not venture to run in-shore on account of the 
rocks, and that we must pass another night on board; and 
the prospects of such a night too ! For some minutes we 
endeavoured to prevail upon him to run on; but, finding 
he would not hazard any thing, we began to make the ne- 
cessary preparations for weathering it as well as possible. 
I. drew on two pair of trovvsers, a seal-skin cap and hat, 
two coats, and a seal-skin jacket, with hood like that of 
an Esquimaux, which I had purchased at Q,uebec; and, as 
ihe anchor was again let go, quietly sat down, and most 
patiently endured the pitiless peltings of the storm. At 
mtervals, during the night, 1 fell into a slight doze, but 
by degrees the heavy pitching of the boat would cause 



A subaltern's FURLOUGH- 77 

my head to strike against a thwart, or touch the bottom 
of the vessel, in which the water was now from four to 
«ix inches in depth, and awake me — for the purpose of 
going throujyh the same motion again at the expiration 
of another quarter of an hour. When the morning 
dawned the wea har had not moderated in the slightest 
degree ; but with heavy hearts and drenched clothes we 
again got under weigh. For my own part I was so en- 
cumbered with the weight of my heavy apparel that, had 
the boat swamped, 1 should have gone to the bottom like 
a lump of lead ; my companion, being an indifferent 
sailor, could scarcely raise his head, and the only active 
service I could perform was to sit at the bottom of the 
boat, wrenching the rain out of my cap and jacket, oi 
take a turn at haling out the water. And when this last 
occupation had ceased, the three of us huddled ourselves 
into the stern-sheets, about 4 feet by 3^ for mutual 
warmth ; and with chattering teeth sat there, for all the 
world like so many dripping fowls upon a perch during 
a shower of rain. 

We did not make the land round Kamouraska Bay, 
ninety miles below Quebec, until we had been exposed 
to the full fury of the storm for twenty-four hoars In 
another hour we landed, and were soon comfortably 
stowed away in a little French inn, busily employed in 
overhauling our wet portmanteaus, and inspecting the 
state of our stock of provisions. The report upon them 
was about as follows: the biscuit and salt had dissolved 
in the water ; the cheese required a place in the oven for 
an hour or two ; the meat had been rolling about at the 
bottom of the boat throughout the night ; my companion's 
claret-coloured over coat, which he had bought at a slop 
shop in Cluebec, was three shades lighter; and the notes 
and sketches I had been taking the preceding day were 
were no bad representation of the state of the heavens 
during the storm. 

The uncertainty whether we could carry our baggage 
throughout the journey had occurred to us before leaving 
Q,uebec,and we had resolved to leave it if anyv/i;e cum- 
bersome, with some villager, retaining only sufficient 
•lothes to fill a knapsack, which we could ourselves carry. 

e* 



78 A subaltern's furlough. 

Upon inquiring at Kamouraska, we met with a Yankee 
pedlar who was returning with his cart to the States, and 
would travel 55 miles upon the same route as ourselves. 
He volunteered to carry our trunks for four pounds, with 
a proviso that we should walk by his side; alleo-ingat the 
same time that it was impossible to perform the journey 
under three days. " We might have seen roads," he said, 
'' but we had never seen the Temiscouta Portage ;" and, as 
to making a bargain of us, he would not carry the port- 
manteaus for twice the sum, if his own business did not 
compel him to go that way; and, furthermore, as the track 
was very dreary, he wished some pleasant company. 
Fortunatt ly we had no occasion to close with this disiri' 
terested offer, a bystander offering to furnish two carts 
for the same sum, affirming that one could not carry the 
two small portmanteaus. The chagrin of our Yankee 
frieiid at losing so good a bargain was very evident, not- 
withstanding all his assurances that his only desire was to 
see us safe to the end of the journey, and prevent our 
being imposed on. He took his leave of us, saying that 
the man who offered to accompany us neither knew what 
he said nor what he was undertaking; and, finally, that 
we should not travel the 55 miles agreed upon under four 
days, and that the flies in the woods would bite our ears 
off, if we did not tie thdm on with a strong handkerchief 
We also experienced much difficulty in replenishing our 
commissariat department, and could obtain only a loaf of 
bread and a cold shoulder ( f mutton — a short supply for 
seven days, which we calculated our journey would last. 
But our severest loss was not discovered until we were 
on the point of starting; the pilot had appropriated our 
whole stock of brandy, consisting of two bottles, to his 
own use. 

On the 6th of September, with two guides, to whom 
the cart belonged, we pursued our routc^ do vn the course 
of the St. Lawrence, the road passing a'orga narrow and 
thickly settled belt of ground, which had •' pparently once 
been in the channel of the river, judging from the nature 
of its soil and a rocky range of hills running parallel 
with it on the out.^r side of the cultivat< d lands. The 
scenery was strikingly fine and bold, aad numerous ships, 



FURLOUGH 79 

tacking to and fro with an adverse wind, rendered it a 
most enlivening scene, until our arrival at the Terais- 
couta Portage, nineteen miles from Kamouraska, when 
we struck off to the southward, and ascending some high 
ground for ever lost sight of the St. Lawrence. The road 
Avas, however, still passable, and, though our progress 
was but slow, there was nothing as yet to warrant the 
pedlar's alarming accounts ; while the log huts though 
presenting a most miserable exterior, would at least shel- 
ter us from the threatening storm. When the rain, 
however, began to descend, and night set in, we made 
several fruitless applications for admission : one said 
there was too many of us another referred us to his 
neighbour a little farther on ; and a third had a sick per- 
son in the house. At last we bade adieu to enjoying a 
night's rest within doors, and approached the dark and 
apparently impenetrable wall of the tall forest, when de- 
scending a small ravine, with a rivulet at its bottom, we 
spied out another log hut, though scarcely distinguisha- 
ble amongst the blackened stumps. Considering it as 
our last hope, we made so pathetic an appeal that we 
were all admitted. I'he tenement was but a very small 
one, and occupied by an old couple of about sixty win- 
ters, with their niece, about fifteen years younger. The 
room into which Ave were ushered was scarcely seven 
feet to the ceiling, and blackened by the smoke of years. 
A straw mattress and a blanket occupied one corner of 
the room ; the square iron stove, two chairs, a couple of 
stools, and an old wooden shelf, with an oil-skin hat, and 
a lamp suspended from the haft of a knife stuck into a 
crevice between two logs, formed the rest of the furniture. 
But it was amply crowded when the horses had been 
suitably provided for, and the seven of us were assem- 
bled. After enjoying a cheerful chat over the fire tor 
some hours, and attending to the gesticulations of our 
host, who, as he sat on a corner of the bed whh a thick 
red Kilmarnock cap upon his head, related anecdotes of 
his life to a group which would have furnished a fine 
study for any of the old Dutch artists, we were shown 
into a room containing a single bed for the accommoda- 
tion of Mr. Reid and myself, who went dinnerless and 



80 A SUBALTERN S FURLOtJGHt. 

aupperless to bed, lest our provisions should fail us when 
most required. 

At daylight the following morning, after an early meal 
upon our bread and mutton, qualified by a draught of cold 
water, we prepare d for another day's fatigue, tendering 
some trifle by way of remuneration to our hostess for the 
night's lodging. We had some difficulty in prevailing 
upon her to accept it, and, when once accepted, the old 
iady in the warmth of her heart would insist upon cram- 
ming our pockets with wood nuts. With many expressions 
of thanks and wishes for a good journey from the worthy 
couple, we crossed the small stream (the Green River, I 
think,) and entering the forest lost nearly all Semblance of 
a road. The trees had been certainly cut away, so as to 
afford a passage from six to nine feet in width, but the 
stumps had been left standing, and, where a marsh was to 
be crossed, that horrible invention " corduroy" had been 
resorted to. Frequently a decaj^ed timber gave way un- 
der the weight of the horses, which floundered up to the 
top of their backs in black wet soil. In other places the 
road was floating on the surface of a deep f ond ; and then 
for a mile or two we had some little variety in clamber- 
ing up hills over husfe masses of rock, or stumbling up 
the bed of a torrent. Now and then, indeed, cutting away 
the windfalls (as the Americans term the trees which are 
blown down by a gale of wind) afforded us a short respite 
from the jolting, but during that time we had to ply our 
axes unremittingly. Mr. Reid had taken charge of the 
first cart, and the Canadians walking;' alono-side of us in 
their large mud boots, for some time I attempted to derive 
advantage from my companion's misfortunes, and learn to 
steer clear of them, but generally found mys; If deposited 
in a much deeper and worse hole, or brought to a stand 
still by a large piece of rock ; so, despairing of bettering 
my condition, I calmly awaited the shock, and setting 
myself well against it in my seat, and compressing my lips, 
I plunged into the midst of every thing up to the axletree, 
with my loose portmanteau tossing about, and flaying my 
legs at a most unmerciful rate. The selfsame abominable 
fiies, too, the Yankee had so glowingly described, added 
to the pleasures of the journey by tearing pit ces of flesb 



A subaltern's furlough. 81 

from our ears, as though each of them had been provided 
with a pair of the best Sheffield forceps. Having- endured 
this patiently for three hours, during which time we had 
advanced just so many miles, we could bear it no longer, 
and dismounting we proceeded on foot. By mid-day we 
arrived at the river St. Francis, a small stream which is 
involved in the boundary question between Great Britain 
and the United St^ates, where we met the royal mail upon 
its way from. Halifax. The letter bags were fastened upon 
a dray or low sledsfe drawn by a single horse, which was 
moving quietly along, cropping what little grass grew by 
the road-side. The guard, fifty yards behind, was taking 
it equally leisurely, amusing himself by blowing through 
his tin horn, and listening to the echo of the unmusical 
notes he produced, as they rt sounded amongst the distant 
hills. The meeting was unexpected on both sides, and as 
he came suddenly round a turn in the forest, raising his 
hand to salute us, he slipped over a stone, and fell upon 
his back in a mass of mud and water ; but rising again 
immediately, with the most enviable unconcern, he stood 
up to his knees in it, answering our numerous queries. 
He travelled over the road, or seventy two miles, once a 
week, without meeting a human being in three months, 
and I will bear witness he had no sinecure. 

At three o'clock we reached the first hut, w'here the 
guides proposed passing the night, but the interior was in 
such a filthy state, and so crowded by a large family, that 
I preferred trusHng to the weather in the woods, and, as 
an inducement to proceed, urged the possibility of arriving 
at a fiirm house q on the lake, fifteen miles farther. The 
Canadians willingly assented ; so once more we toiled 
away over the rough hills, gathering the bilberries, nuts, 
gooseberries, strawberries, and other wild fruits, which 
grew in abundance on every side. Partridges too crossed 
the path frequently, almost within reach of our sticks, 
with the greatest impunity : for never were there such 
peaceably disposed travellers in the woods before : we 
had not even a pistol, gun, tinder-box, or, as Sheridan 
says, " a single bloody-minded weapon" with us. 

Throughout the day we were journeying in a kind of 
no-man's land. The British Government claim it partly 



82 A subaltern's furlough. 

by the riszht of possession (which, as every one knows, 
is nine points in law,) and have thie credit of having ex- 
pended at various times within the last dozen years, up- 
wards of 1000/. in forming this road, (which is the only 
one between Q,uebec and Halifax,) out of an old Indian 
Hunting path. A traveller has some difficaty in account- 
ing for the expenditure, unless he comes to the conclusion 
that it has been sunk in one of the m^irshes, or frittered 
away upon a corduroy. The United States claim the de- 
batable land hy right of treaty (which same treaty each 
party construes according to its respective interests,) 
though it will be evident to anyone who will refer to the 
map, that brother Jonathan wants to possess it merely in 
•order that he may serve as a thorn in the side (to which 
indeed the form of the tract in question bears a strongs 
resemblance) of the British provinces, thus cutting off the 
direct route to Quebec, the key of British North Ame- 
rica in time of war, dividing the less; r provinces from 
the Canai'as, and probably erecting fortii. cations upon a 
frontier which would extend W'ithin thirteen miles of the 
8t. Lawrence. The intrinsic value of the land is next to 
nothing, and can be but insignificant to a nation already 
in possession of I,205,0C0,0dO acres ol' land, or 2,000,000 
of square miles. 

Three hours after sunset the guides, m ho were a-hea4 
hailed us with the cheerful sound of " une bonne espe- 
ranee /" This was followed by a charge of several cows, 
which, rushing past, were greeted also by us as a happy 
omen. Scarcely more exultation could have been express- 
ed by Xenophon and the 10,000 Greeks of old, when the 
ocean again displayed its broad waters to their view, than 
was by us when we saw the light surface of the Temis- 
couta Lakelying far beneath us. But a few minutes he- 
fore we had held a council of war about biveuackingin the 
woods, the want of the requisites for striking a light, and a 
sprinkle of raiti, alone causing us to persevere in oui 
journey, which came to an end by eleven o'clock, when 
we arrived at Mr Frazer's house and farm, after eighteen, 
hours of most fatiguing toil, over twenty four miles of 
ground, and through ibrest where we could never se© 
twenty yards from the road, the only object worthy ol 



A SUBALTERN'S FURLOUGH SS 

notice being the majestic hemlock trees, or the branchet 
of the pine, with long streamers of green moss hanging 
from them. Although the hospitable ovvnei of the house 
had retired to rest sometime, he rose immediately upon 
our knocking, and gave us a hearty welcome, with a cup 
of excellent tea, and a shake-down upon the floor. He 
told us he had lived there nine years, but the land was 
poor, and he was so tired of his solitary life that he in- 
tended to leave his farm, and retire to some property he 
possessed on the river Du Loup, shuated in a district of 
which he was Seigneur. 

He furnished us, the next morning, the 8th of Septem- 
ber, with two canoes and a man in each, and, parting 
with our Canadian guides, we paddled down the lake 
until we arrived at the residence of Mr. Frazer's next and 
nearest neighbour, six miles distant. We presented him 
with some late newspapers, and his wife in return soon 
provided a comfortable breakfast. The settler, when we 
arrived, was sitting at the window, poring over an old- 
number of the Sailor's Magazine. He had served twenty- 
four years in the 4;)th regiment, and three years in a 
veteran battalion, when, receiving his di charge, he was 
settled with several other soldiers on the borders of the 
lake and upon the portage, to keep open a line of com^ 
munication with the St. Lawrence. All the others, des- 
pairing of making a livelihood after the first two or three 
years, \vhen their rations of flour were withdrawn, had 
migrated to some more populous and promising country. 
Sixteen years had expired since he landed in the thick 
forest, on the spot he then occupied, with his wife and 
two boys. He said that for the first twelvemonth he much 
f dt the loss of his barrack-room society ; but, setting to 
work with a good heart, he built a log hut, which wai 
now occupied as a pig-stye, and persevered in clearing 
the ground until the seventh year, when disease attacked 
his cattle, and carried offevery head. This so discouraged 
him that he quitted the place, and returned into the in- 
habited part of the country, but soon again visited his old 
farm and commenced anew. From that time every thing 
had gone on in a flourishing manner. He now possessed 
iftine cowB and a hundred acres of cleared land, and waff 



8^1 A subaltern's furlough. 

perfectly happy and contented. His sons were grown up 
men, and were mowing- a few acres of grass, but the corn 
was yet green, and did not appear as if it would ripen 
before winter. It did not, however, seem at all to con- 
cern the worthy veteran, who said " he must hope for the 
best." I asked him how he disposed of the produce of 
his farm, and his answer was that " his farm did not 
yield any thing more than would provide his family. 
Butcher's meat they did not require, and were well satis- 
fied with salt pork and vegetables." His maple sugar 
was most excellent, and he had made 460 lbs. from 800 
trees the preceding year; but the land in the vicinity was 
generally poor, and upon the headlands (to use his own 
expression) " there was not enough to feed a mouse, 
though there was a good farm here and there away from 
the lake." He was a true Corporal Trim : in the first 
instance, he fought the battles of Chippewa and Lundy's 
Lane, for my edification, upon the white hearthstone 
with a piece ef charcoal, but, finding my undivided atten- 
tion was bent upon something more substantial, he trans- 
ferred the scene of action to the breakfast table, where he 
most gallantly carried the heights of Glueenston upon the 
top of the loaf of bread, and stormed Fort Erie through 
the spout of a tea pot. He talked with the greatest pride 
of having served in the same regiment with Lord Aylmer 
and Sir Isaac Brock, regretting much that the former was 
not at home when he made his biennial trip to Quebec 
for his pension during the summer. To show, however, 
his esteem for him, he had a large proclamation respect- 
ing the cholera, and the performance of quarantine, with 
the signature of the Governor- General, nailed up against 
the wall of his house. 

Wishing him success, we again pushed on, lashing the 
two canoes together and keeping closeunder the lee-shore, 
there being so fresh a breeze that we were several times 
in imminent danger of being swamped, from the frequent 
strong gusts of wind which swept down the valleys between 
the high lands with which the lake is skirted. In the 
widest parts, the lake does not exceed a mile and a half in 
breadth, and is about twenty-five in length. After entering 
the narrow and rapid stream of the Made waska River (the 



FURLOUGH. S5 

'Outlet of the Temiscouta Lake) we glided swiftly along- 
between undulating and beautifiil banks, the hills rising 
from 100 to 500 feet in height, and covered with every de- 
scription of forest tree, but touched only here and there with 
the dark foliageof the pine, while, at the very margin of the 
water, the white trunks of the birch were most prominent. 
We rested an hour at mid-day for the purpose of dining, our 
table and couch being one of the veteran's hay-cocks, in 
a cleared spot of ground twenty miles from his house, the 
first open space we had seen since quitting it. Ten miles 
farther we heard the merry chattering of some children, 
evidently Irish, from their accent, and, rounding a point, 
found a parcel of little urchins in high glee throwing peb- 
bles and sticks of wood at another who was anofling- in a 
most artist-like manner, as he floated down the stream in 
a bark canoe. In the background, a party of five or six 
newly-arrived emigrants were sitting round a fire super- 
intending the cooking department, their log huts being in 
an unfinished state. The ground for the space of an acre 
Avas covered with the smoking trunks of trees, and black- 
ened logs, and here and there the murky skeleton of some 
decayed giant of the forest was gradually consuming away 
as it retained its erect position. From this small settlement 
there were partial and new clearings for an extent of five 
or six miles, when the thick forest again closed in upoi« 
the river. 

About eight o'clock we were moving along with in 
creased velocity, having passed over several Rapids most 
gallantly, and shipping but a small quantity of spray, 
when I heard a hollow roar a-head, which I was well 
«ware must arise from some cataract, and hinted to the 
boatmen that they had better keep a sharp look out a-head 
They, however not pleased I suppose at being dictated 
to by a greenhorn in such matters, ran on in the same 
course, until we could not well make the shore, and had 
a good chance of taking a leap over some falls of 12 or 
14 feet, had not a rock 20 or 30 yards above them luckilj' 
intervened, and brought us up with such a shock as near- 
ly to throw Mr. Reid out of the bottom of the canoe, 
where he lay fast asleep, into the water. I was on the 
point of throwing myself in to swim, when I obserre-i 

TOL. II. — H. 



86 A subaltern's furlough. 

that our head-way was stopped, and after some difficulty 
we succeeded in gaining a little inlet formed by a rock 
on the verge of the Falls. Taking out our baggage, we • 
carried it as well as the canoes over the rocks to the level 
below, and, again stepping in, were in a few minutes at 
the settlement of Madawaska at the confluence of the 
Madawaska and St. John's Rivers, It was formed by 
the Acadians, after their expulsion from Nova-Scotia 
about the year 1754, and is situated in a pretty and rather 
fertile spot, but with no regular village. We could ob- 
tain some tea and beds at a small inn, the landlord of 
which also filled the twofold occupation of grocer and 
retailer of rum; but, as elsewhere upon our journey, there 
was no butcher's meat, not more than half a dozen tra- 
vellers visiting the settlement in the course of the year. 

When we arrived the landlord was superintending the 
erection of a grist mill^ some miles distant ; but his son 
rode off and summoned him to attend his guests: and, 
before we had dressed in the morning, a tall, dark, but 
sanctified and clean-shaved man, walked into the room, 
and announced himself as our host and humble servant to 
command — Simeon Abair by name. After the creation of 
many difficulties upon his part, he agreed (as the Rapids 
were too dangerous to attempt paddling ourselves down 
the St. John's) to provide us with a canoe and man for 
5/., assigning "harvest time" as the reason for making 
so exhorbitant a demand. As he would not abate any 
thing, the money was paid him; but upon proceeding to 
the river, to which, as we subsequently remembered, he 
hurried us, without allowing the boatman to approach, 
or even to speak to us, we found a little cockle-shell which 
would have filled and swamped in the first cat's-paw or 
or a slight summer shower. Protesting that I would not 
run the risk of my life and loss of baggage for a distance 
of 150 miles in such a craft, sooner than loose such good 
customers he furnished us with a more capacious one, 
and we proceeded on our course down the St. John's. Two 
days afterwards, we had the curiosity to inquire of the 
boatman whether he had been paid for the trip ; he said, 
" Yes ; that he had received 3/." The sight of the man's 
features, when informed of the- sum the landlord had charg- 



A subaltern's furlough. 87 

^d us, was worth the other 21, and Ave could not forbear 
bursting into a hearty laugh as he told us, with the most 
piteous face imaginable, that he "should not have so much 
cared if any one else had cheated him, but that the land- 
lord was his godfather;" that he had said we were fa- 
tigued, and wished not to be annoyed by seeing the boat- 
man, but would make a bargain with him ; and " that 
though he had made a good thing of it, he could screw 
only 3/. out of us." Had not our time been so valuable, 
scarcely any thing would have given both of us so much 
pleasure as returning and ducking the old bear, making 
him refund the money, and then handing it over to our 
honest hard-working boatman. 

Our canoe was a long one, 24 feet in length by 3 in 
breadth, so that with our baggage and three heavy peo- 
ple, its sides were within four inches of the water. As we 
floated along, numerous fair damsels at work in the fields 
on the river's banks, waved their large black hats to our 
boatman, or gave him innumerable commissions for ri- 
bands and other finery to be purchased at the capital. 
Although he answered ** oui, oui," a hundred times, yet 
still, as he paddled along, there was a last request, until 
we were so distant that nothing but an indistinct murmur 
reached our ears. The day was squally, with heavy 
showers of rain, so, coming in sight of a respectable- 
looking farm-house, about twenty miles below Madawas- 
ka, we pulled in shore and landed, for the purpose of 
seeking a few minutes' shelter from a heavy storm 
which was threatening to burst over us momentarily. 
Upon entering the house we found half a dozen men and 
women most earnestly engaged in discussing a substan- 
tial dinner, and drinking tea at the same time. The 
whole party were crowded round a little table where 
there was just sufficient space for them to squeeze their 
elbows in, while a rear rank or corps of reserve, was 
formed of ten or twelve hungry-looking young children 
whose countenances expressed the greatest anxiety to be 
called into action. Although we took our seats on a 
bench fastened to the wall, with the usual salutation, not 
the slightest notice was taken of us by any of the party, 
so intent were they upon the subject before them ; nor 
•iy^s any offev made about partaking of their cheer, 



;?48 A subaltern's furlough. 

though we were drenched to the skin, and might rea- 
sonably be supposed to have no distaste for the good 
things we saw upon the table. At intervals we heard 
one of them addressed by the title of Captain, and 1 
must acknowledge, though I had seen many strange 
captains in the United States, I had never before bi en in 
the presence of such a libel upon a military rank. The 
noble commar.der had a face as round and as red as the 
rising moon, with little grey eyes protruding from his 
head like those of a boiled lobster ; a few white hairs 
scantily covered a forehead whose capaciousntss would 
have puzzled Spurzheim himself, and his rotundity 
would have even put old Falstafl' to the blush. Our 
boatman wishing to consult him upon some military 
matter, he waddled down to the water's edge with us 
after the shower had passed over, and laid down the 
law in the most direct terms. As we proceeded on our 
voyage, the boatman informed us that he carried a mus- 
ket in the captain's company !n the militia, and had been 
called out on duty the preceding year to check some ag- 
gression of the Americans ; btit, not having received any 
remuneration for his services, his captain had given him 
the requisite directions for obtaining it by making appli- 
cation at Fredericton. Excepting the lately arrived Irish 
upon the Madawaska River, these were the first British 
settlers we had seen since leaving the veteran's house 
upon Temiscouta Lake, and from this specimen we were 
almost justified in forming but a mean opinion of the 
New-Bruns wickers' hospitality. 

Twenty miles farther broiijght us to the Great Falls, 
where we again landed, the Portage commencing at the 
rather dangerous vicinity of about 150 yards above them, 
the influence of the cataract being very evident upon 
canoes which must cross the river to gain the entrance of 
the Portage, situated in a small circular bay. The sur- 
face of the river is perfectly smooth and unbroken until 
it gains the very edge of the rock, when it is precipitated 
70 feet in a sheet of amber-coloured foam into a narrow 
and rocky channel, not exceeding 35 in breadth, down 
which it boils and bubbles for the space of half a mile, 
aiiid then expands into its original width of about 1^0 



A subaltern's furlough. 89 

yards. There is a tradition, though seemingl3r not a 
very probable one, that several canoes of Mohawk In- 
dians, who had attacked a tribe near the source of the 
river, and massacred all, excepting two old squaws, 
were (accompanied by their prisoners) floating down 
with the current at night, and were to a man dashed to 
pieces over the Falls, of whose existence they had not 
even the most remote idea. The squaws aware of the 
circumstance perished with them, not wishing to survive 
the destruction of their tribe. Sitting upon the rough 
crags on the margin of the cataract, we made a late din- 
ner upon the last remains of our shoulder of mutton, 
sacrificing the well-picked bone to the shades of the old 
squaws and the Grand Falls. 

The river banks formed of a hard rock with light covering 
of soil, exceed 100 feet in height above the Falls, and more 
than 200 half a mile below them. The man who conveys 
the boats across the Portage* earns a good livelihood by 
his two-fold occupation of farmer and boat-carrier. Our 
canoe, with the baggage in it, was drawn along a wind- 
ing road on a sledge by two oxen, and launched again 
into the water half a mile below for a quarter of a dollar. 
Timber was formerly drawn up on the level of the bank, 
and then launched again into the water down an inclined 
plane, but this system was soon abandoned as too expen- 
sive, and it is noAV allowed to shoot the Falls, which in the 
freshets but little injures it. 

For seven or eight miles the current carried us on with 
great velocity over the " While Rapids," the " Black 
Rapids," and a series of others, all sufficiently dangerous 
to encounter without a skilful pilot, and we landed at 
dusk near a small log hut, the first we saw" after leaving 

* Owing to the numerous rapids on tiie river St. John, these por- 
tages or carrying-places are frequent. The Eastern Provinces, more es- 
pecially New Brunswick, are so intersected with streams, whose sour- 
ces are in the immediate vicinity of each other, that the whole country 
may be traversed by means of them w4th very little difficulty : and, 
in short, the rivers are the highways of the province. The Grand 
Temiscouta Portage is of an extraordinary length, being thirty-six 
miles over a mountainous country, and very little used except, by casu- 
al travellers, but some of the navigable streams are within two miles 
of each other, yet flowing ixi opposite directions. 



subaltern's furlough. 



the Portage. The banks had continued a hundred feet ir^ 
height, and covered with a dense pine forest, but we fre- 
quently passed groups of woodsmen bivouacking by their 
fires at the water's edge after their day's labour had ceased. 
Throwing part of the baggage over my shoulder, I walked 
up to the hut, through whose small window the bright 
light of the wood fire could be seen blazing cheerfully, 
and knocking at the door walked in, and found a family of 
j*even, who welcomed me most hospitably. My compa- 
Mons following me, we joined the circle, and, after enjoying 
a bowl of excellent milk, asked the settler's history. He 
Imd been a comrade of the veteran upon the lake, and had 
been settled there at the same time, v/hen his nearest 
Jieighbour lived at twenty miles' distance. He had now 
one within six miles, but considered it no advantage, and 
would rather that people did not settle so near to him, as 
he should then have no fear of quarrelling. Part of his 
kouse had been washed away by the freshets during the 
;ipring of the previous year, and, although it was 20 feet 
above the level of the river, the water had stood 5 feel 
5 inches in his kitchen, w hich was the only room he had 
remaining. This summer, too, the bears had destroyed 
13; sheep and 4 hogs of his stock, but he had yet 23 sheep 
remaining, and two cows. The only neighbours, however, 
he did not appear, in any manner, to approve, were the 
Americans, whose boundary w^as within five miles. He 
R^aid that he had been over amongst some of them lately, 
and told them that they had better be silent upon the 
subjectof the boundary question now, for that New Bruns- 
wick had a governor who had ju^t been most satisfactori- 
ly arranging the same kind of a dispute in the East Indies, 
As the night was advanced, wishing to obtain a few hours 
sleep, I threw my wet great coat upon the floor before the 
blazing hearth, as the most comfortable berth I could se- 
lect ; but the settler's wife w^ould so positively insist upon 
Mro Ileid and myself taking possession of the only bed 
in the room, upon which, she asserted, " she had just 
placed new blankets for our express comfort," that I was 
compelled most reluctantly to relinquish it, while the set- 
tler and his son went out and sought a night's rest amongst 
the straw in the stable. I had heard from the boatman. 



jl subaltern's furlough. 91 

on the Madawaska River that the house was not celebrat- 
ed for its cleanliness, and a sight of the bed convinced me 
that there must be very substantial reasons for its fame 
haying spread through a hundred miles of nearly unin 
habited country ; so I walked out of the house with the 
intention of sleeping in the open air, and thus avoid giv- 
ing any affront to our hostess, but the mist rose so thick 
and cold from the water, and remembering the story of 
the bears, I thought it more prudent to undergo a night's 
tortures within doors. On returning into the house, I 
found my friend already between the far-famed blankets : 
the boatman had taken up my comfortable position on 
the hearth ; the children were lying upon a bed at the 
foot of ours, and the settler's wife sat in a chair watching 
<he fast-dying embers. I was somewhat puzzled to dis- 
cover how Mr. Reid had contrived to turn in ; for I had 
no idea of risking myself otherwise than in my clothes, 
itnd, after considerable mano:uvring, took an opportuni- 
ty, ^.when the settler's wife turned her head, to spring in. 
and strongly intrench myself up to the chin between the 
coverlid and upper blanket. My friend had taken up a 
similar strong position, and was almost choked with at- 
tempting to smother his laughter. We were not such old 
soldiers, however, as to outmanoeuvre the enemy in this 
manner : for swarms of light infantry poured down upon 
ws in every direction ; and most stoically did we bear their 
attacks for the short time we were awake, but the fatigues 
of the day soon caused us to be unconscious of every thing 
that was passing. Tow^ards morning I was awaked b^r 
.5ome heavy weight upon my feet, and at first, took it for a 
visit of the night-mare ; but arousing my senses a little, 
and feeling it move, I was convinced it must be one of the 
children ; so out of gratitude for our accommodation I 
«ould not remove it, but endured the evil, until rising to de- 
part upon our voyage I discovered that it was a large 
black dog, which had favoured us v^'ith his company. 

Two hours brought us to the mouth of the Aroostook 
Kiver, and Stobec, a small Indian village on the opposite 
bank. Landing where we saw a bark canoe drawn up on 
the beach, we fortunately met a staff officer, who had 
been up the Aroostook to check some aggressions of the 



92 A subaltern's furlough. 

American lumberers in the forests on the disputed terri- 
tory, and was now on his return to Fredericton. We 
proceeded in company through a fertile and from this 
time well-inhabited country, with fine bold scenery at 
every turn of the stream, and at night arrived at Wood- 
stock, about sixty miles below the Falls and half a mile 
from the river, where we found a comfortable little inn, 
kept by an American. The division of the counties, which 
had only lately taken place, had not been publicly stated 
more than three or four days, and Woodstock, which had 
formerly been in the county of York, was now the capital 
of the new-formed county of Carleton. At present, it is 
but a small village, though doubtless, ere many years have 
passed, it will be one of the most considerable towns in 
the province, being situated in the most fertile part, and 
already possessing a large agricultural population. Per- 
sons anxious for posts under government, and to establish 
themselves with the earliest foundation of the town, were 
flocking in from all directions ; no fewer than three sur- 
geons and four attorneys had already arrived, though there 
was neither fee nor food for one of them. The small and 
formerly quiet village had already divided opinions and 
clashing interests, and numerous little jealousies and 
bickerings had arisen. It is a straggling place, settled 
party upon a creek near the river, and partly upon the 
high ground where the inn was ; so each party wished to 
establish their own spot as the site of the capital, and de- 
rive the advantage of having the public buildings there. 
The evening gun, from the American garrison of Houl- 
ton, only five miles distant, can be distinctly heard at Wood- 
stock ; and, as we were descending the river on the 11th 
of September, we caught a glimpse of Mar's Hill, upon 
which the boundary monument has been erected. Large 
as the St. John's River is, it is rendered utterly unnavi- 
gable by the numerous rapids, where, in many places, the 
depth does not exceed three feet. The beach every where 
was strewed with fine timber, which had been left by the 
falling of the spring freshets, and which could not now 
arrive at the port of exportation before the ensuing year, 
and flat-bottomed provision-boats can with difliculty 
reach Woodstock on the 3d day from Fredericton. The 



A subaltern's furlough 9S 

scenery throughout the St. John's, is of a superior order 
to the generality of that in America, and becomes bolder 
and more beautiful as the river nears the ocean ; but the 
land decreases in fertility in an equal ratio every succeed- 
ing mile below Woodstock. The Falls of the Pokeok at 
its junction with the St. John's seen through a wooded 
and rocky chasm, and an Indian village with some fine 
drooping elms upon a bold undulating country a few 
miles lower down, are exceedingly picturesque objects. 

With the exception of Woodstock, it cannot be said 
that there is any settlement which can come under the 
denomination of a village between the Green River and 
Fredericton, a distance not short of 220 miles. In many 
parts, as at Madawaska, a narrow riband of farms extends 
along the banks of the St. John, and stretches back from 
a quarter to a mile inland Three or four tribes also of 
Indians have their strange-looking collection of bark-built 
wig-wams huddled together upon the headlands formed 
by the junction of the Tobique andother tributary streams: 
the chief's house is usually distinguished from the rest 
by having a flag-stafT alongside of it, or the roof being 
rather more elevated. The costume of the females struck 
me as much gayer than that of the tribes I had previ- 
ously seen in the Canadas. Their dress here was gene- 
rally of brilliant and gaudy colours, with their black hat» 
encircled by a broad silver band. The men, who appeared 
to subsist chiefly upon fishing in the summer season, had 
the same heavy and forbidding countenances i had ob- 
served amongst the Seneca and Irroquois tribes. I waa 
informed, however, by officers of the army, and agent* 
who had superintended the annual distribution of pre- 
sents from the British government to the tribes upon the 
borders of Lake Huron, that fine athletic warriors of the 
Sac and Fox tribe of Indians, with noble features, used to 
attend upon those occasions with one side of their face 
painted sky blue, and the other chequered with vermil- 
ion and bright yellow ; but all whom I saw fell very far 
short of the natives of Bengal and Pegu both in stature 
and countenance. 

At ten o'clock on the night of the ninth day from our 
leaving Quebec, we arrived at Fredericton, 350 mibs 



94 A subaltern's furlough, 

distant, rejoiced beyond measure that our fatiguing expe- 
dition was at an end. The cramping attitude of sitting 
crouched at the bottom of the canoe for sixteen hours, 
during four successive days, without being able to change 
that position, lest the heavily-laden and frail vessel should 
capsize, was irksome and overpowering in the extreme. 
But, when our troubles and vexations were over, as usual 
we laughed heartily at all our adventures ; and, taking 
it all in all, I may fairly say that I enjoyed this journey 
more than any other portion of my travels on the conti- 
nent of America. Our provisions had been rather short, 
and the bread on the 4th or 5th day became so excessive- 
ly sour, from alternate wet and exposure to the sun, that 
it was unwholesome as well as unpalatable, and began 
to aifect us seriously. Nor had our night's rest been 
sought upon couches of the softest and most fleecy down ; 
but, in the enjoyment of good health, other matters were 
of trifling moment, and soon consigned to oblivion 



A SUBALTERN'S TURLOUCH. 5^3 



CHAPTER VII. 

Whence have they this mettle ? 

Is not their cUmate foggy, raw, and dull ? 

Shakspeake, 

One says the kingdom is his own ; a Saxon drinks the quart, and 
swears he'll dispute that with him. 

Tatler. 

After the separation of New Brunswick from Nova 
Scotia, in 1785, Colonel Carleton was appointed Governor 
of the New Province, and selected a spot on the right bank 
of the river, where Fredericton now stands, as the site of 
the capital. The situation is good, being at the head of 
the tide-water and the sloop navigation. Though ships 
of large burden can ascend to the mouth of the Oromuc- 
to, from twelve to fifteen miles below, yet merchandize 
is usually forwarded from the sea-port ninety miles dis- 
tant by small craft, the Falls of St. John, two miles from 
the harbour, preventing the passage of large vessels ex- 
cept at high water. The town consists of two principal 
streets, running parallel with the river, and contains 
about 1200 inhabitants, but as yet has no regular market 
nor fair. The point of land upon which it is built is 
tlat and low, being but a few feet above the level of the 
freshets. A low range of rocky hills, however, rises 
half a mile in rear of the town, and another at rather 
a greater distance on the opposite side of the St. John's, 
into which the pretty stream of the Naaswhaak emp- 
ties itself The river immediately above Fredericton 
is studded with many beautiful islands of considerable 
extent, which, being inundated at certain seasons, pro- 
duce abundant crops of hay, as is the case with the 
low land on the banks ; but, in general, the soil is cold 
and poor. 

The original Government House, a wooden edifice, 
was burnt by accident some few years since, and the 
present substantial and spacious one of fine freestone 
^.yas erected during the administration of the late Go- 
vernor, Sir Howard Douglas. In point of situation 



96 A subaltern's FORLOUOH. 

and style of architecture it far exceeds both that at 
Cluebec and the one at York : and, with the tastefully 
laid out pleasure-grounds and gardens, occupies a large 
tract of ofround on the marofin of the water above the 
town. 

The College, situated at the base of the hills, is an- 
other fine stone edifice, and, in addition to possessing the 
enormous grant of 60OO acres in its immediate vicinity, 
has 1000/. per annum allowed by the British, and the 
sam3 sum by the provincial government. The former 
made their g|ant 'conditionally that the province allowed 
an equal sum ; but of late years the House of Assembly 
have shown a disposition to withdrawtheir grant, though 
that of the mother country was made in pcrpetuum. 
They contend that they cannot afford to pay so highly 
for the education of the half dozen young men who 
study there under a president and four professors. The 
other public buildings are of wood, and do not display 
any thing either tasteful or expensive in their structure. 
The officers' barracks, for the few companies of infantry 
quartered in the town, are prettily situated on one side of 
a square, surrounded by fine trees and the intervening 
space laid with grass, where the excellent band of the 
34th regiment attracted a crowd of auditors during the 
fine evenings of September. 

Many of the old inhabitants were the royalists of the 
American Revolution who settled in New Brunswick after 
the forfeiture of their property in the States, and several of 
them still hold high official situations. But, as in the Ca- 
nadas, the same blunt manner and independent spirit which 
an Eiiglishman is so apt to censure in the United States is 
here very perceptible, and the lower classes of people as- 
sume similar airs. A shopkeeper is mighty indignant 
if so addressed : forsooth he is a storekeeper ; a black- 
smith is a lieutenant of militia grenadiers, and sports his 
full-dress uniform, with gold wings, as proudly as a no- 
bleman; a maid-servant, who has emigrated from Eng- 
land only three years before with scarcely a shoe to her 
foot, walks in to be hired, and, in the presence of the lady of 
the house, seats herself in the best chair in the parlour and 
then enters upon business with the ease of one who is re- 



FURLOUGH. 97 

ciprocating a favour : in short, no one confesses a superior. 
They certainly possess the levelling system in full vigour, 
inhaled, I should imagine, from the opposite side of the 
frontier. " Ne sutor ultra crepidam" is not the motto 
here ; the majority of the House of Assembly is compos- 
ed of ignorant farmers and shopkeepers, the representa- 
tives of the eleven counties into which the province is di- 
vided. One thing, however, I will acquit them of: they 
neither chew tobacco nor do they annoy you in their ho- 
tels with the essence of egg-nog and mint julaps. 

The New-Brunswickers, generally speaking are a fine 
athletic race of people, and the lumberers, in personal 
appearance and strength, will not yield to the peasantry of 
any nation. They are alike insensible to heat and cold, and 
with a stock of salt pork and rum remain in the woods 
without quitting them for months, employed intheir hardy 
occupation of felling timber. The province will doubtless 
improve rapidly. The timber trade, which has so long em- 
ployed the energies of the inhabitants, is already beginning 
to fail in some parts, and argriculture w^ill be more attend- 
ed to. The farmers have ever been in the habit of pay- 
ing their one shilling and sixpence per ton into the crown- 
land office for a license to lumber daring the winter 
months, entirely neglecting their farms for a pursuit which 
would bring them a little more ready money. Owing to 
this ruinous system, the specie has found its way into the 
United States for the purchase of flour and pork, w'hile a 
system of barter has been established between the inha- 
bitants of the interior of the province, the labourer re- 
ceiving so many bushels of wheat for his work, and the 
whiskey dealer bartering v/ith the butcher or tailor. 

The population of the province, including the scattered 
Acadiansand original French settlers, w^ho possess consi- 
derable tracts of land upon the eastern coast, does not at 
present exceed 109,000, though it is now rapidly increas- 
ing. Many emigrants of a highly respectable class, and 
men of good education were continually arriving during 
my stay at Fredericton. The}/ intended purchasing farms 
on the banks of the St. John's, near Woodstock ; but 1 
could scarcely imagine that persons who had been ac- 
customed to mix in the gay scenes of a college life, and 

VOL. IL — I. 



98 A subaltern's furlough. 

move ill the higher walks of society in England, would 
ever be happy or contented in a comparative wilderness, 
where they must be solely dependent upon their own re- 
sources, and their time, devoid of excitement, must hang 
heavily on their hands. From what little I saw of the 
vast western continent, I should say it was no country 
for a mere gentleman, who retained a fondn^s for 
hunting and shooting, but rather for artificers and far- 
mers, whose previous habits enabled them to put their 
own shoulders to the wheel. Of the natives of Great 
Britain the lower ordei's of the Scotch are usually consi- 
dered the best settlers, having been more accustomed to 
privations and hardships than their English neighbours, 
who, though not so addicted to spirituous liquors, are a 
worse class ot settlers, and more dissatisfied with the 
change they have made, than the Irish. The Lowland- 
ers again are even a better description of settlers than 
their Highland brethren, who, like the French, satisfied 
with a mere existence, care little about the improvement 
of their farms. 

The late order for collecting quit-rents appeared to 
give universal dissatisfaction amongst the old settlers, 
who were far from being thankful for having held gra- 
tuitous possession of their lands for fifty years. They 
even hinted at refusing to pay them, acknowledging, 
however, that his Majesty had an unquestionable right to 
collect them, but asserting that they were mentioned in 
their grants merely for form's sake, and, at the time 
those grants were made, it was never intended that the 
collection of them should be carried into execution. The 
quit-rents, too, bear only slightly upon men of large 
property, the option being allowed of paying two shil- 
lings per 100 acres per annum, or of purchasing out by 
paying fifteen years in advance ; so that for the trifling 
sum of 15/. a landed proprietor may become possessor of ' 
1000 acres of land, which previously were held under 
the crown. The casual revenue which is expended in 
roads and other public works, and derived principally 
from the sale of crown lands and timber, must be fast 
decreasing, and the collection of the quit-rents, without 
pressing heavily upon any one, will sustain it for some 



A subaltern's furlough. 99 

time. Until the arrival of Sir Archibald Campbell, the 
present Governor, no part of the world could have pos- 
sessed so few and such bad roads. Since his arrival, 
however, the '' Royal Road" has been surveyed, and se- 
veral miles of it are already completed ; the intention 
being to extend it on the opposite side of the river to the 
Grand Falls. By the course of the stream the distance 
is 130 miles, which will be shortened 40 miles by the 
new road, and, at the same time, not only tend to the 
rapid settlement of the interior of the country, by throw- 
ing open a mercantile line of communication, but in time 
of war will be of incalculable advantage as a military 
road to Quebec, with the broad stream of the St. John's, 
a natural protection against any sudden inroads from the 
American frontier. Most of the allotments upon the 
sea-coast have been occupied many years, and the occu- 
pation of those upon the banks of the principal Hvers 
followed. They are generally of a narrow frontage, so 
that each occupant may command water navigation ; but 
some extend to the rear as much as five or six miles ; 
and the 2d and 3d occupations from the river are even 
now filling. The best crown lands are at this time sell- 
ing at three shillings, and the general average of crops 
is about eighteen bushels of wheat per acre. The win- 
ter being of longer duration than elsewhere, winter wheat 
is not sown ; the soil, however, yields the finest potatoes 
in North America, which give the name of Blue-noses 
to the New-Brunswickers, from the small eyes or excres- 
cences with which they are covered, and they are ex- 
ported to the United States in vast quantities. The 
province as yet (owing to the dense forests) has been 
very imperfectly explored, but it is known to abound with 
coal, slate, freestone, and granite : it also produces some 
small quantities of various ores. Its climate is dry and 
particularly healthy, excepting about the coast of the 
Bay of Fundy, where, from the continued fogs, the in- 
habitants are said to be liable to pulmonary com 'aints. 
During my ten days' residence at Fredericton I had 
the pleasure of meeting Mr. Audubon, the celebrated 
ornithologist, who, with his sons, was searching for ad- 
ditiojis to his laborious undertaking. He had only been 



100 A subaltern's furlough. 

fortunate enough to meet with one rather rare bird in 
the province ; and I am afraid he would not add many 
subscribers to his valuable but expensive work. His 
original drawings were certainly much more beautiful 
and spirited than the English coloured engravings. His 
time appeared entirely given up to the performance of 
what he had undertaken, and in the pursuit of which he 
has expended a considerable fortune. His manners are 
very mild, and he has a prepossessing and benevolent 
countenance, with a sharp eagle eye and prominent fea- 
tures. 

The militia were called out for three days' training, 
and the battalion which assembled at Fredericton 1000 
strong was composed of fine athletic men. Only 200 of 
them were armed, and about the same number had cloth- 
ing and accoutrements. There was also an African 
company, who had decked themselves very gaily, and 
carried the only drum and fife in the field. They ap- 
peared quite proud of their occupation, not being ex- 
empted, as in the United States, from the performance of 
military duty. The province could, in case of emer- 
gency, furnish 20,000 men, (but, unfortunately, there are 
neither arms nor clothing for one-tenth of that number,} 
and six troops of yeomanry cavalry. The Fredericton 
troop made an exceedingly neat and clean appearance, 
being well clothed and partly armed ; and in active ser- 
vice, in such a country as New Brunswick, would prove 
of very essential utility. In case of immediate aggres- 
sion from their neighbours, the province must for some 
time be intrusted to their care alone, there being only six 
weak companies of regular infantry in three distant de- 
tachments, with a frontier of 200 miles in extent, and a 
province of 22,000 square miles in charge, while the 
Americans have two garrisons close upon the boundary 
line (at Eastport and Houlton,) and an excellent military 
road nearly completed to Boston. The New-Brunsv. ck- 
ers have already given ample proof that they are well 
qualified as soldiers to undergo any hardships and pri- 
vations. During the last American war the 104th regi- 
ment was entirely raised in this province, and made a 
march unparalleled in the annals of Enghsh history, and 



A subaltern's furlough. 101 

only equalled by that of the Russian campaign in 1812 
through the extensive forests to the Canadas in the depth 
of a severe winter. No troops ever behaved better in 
the field, and the corps was nearly annihilated at the 
storming of Fort Erie. Many Americans settle in the 
province, and are always the most enterprising and mo- 
ney-seeking men ; many too are prevented naturalizing 
by an oath of allegiance, or some similar form, which the 
law requires to be taken in a Protestant church ; and, 
being considered as aliens, they pay a fine of thirty shil- 
lings in lieu of performing militia duty. 

That one party at least in the United States care little 
for embroiling themselves with Great Britain, in order 
that they may have a pretext for invading her colonies, 
may be gathered from the following paragraphs in the 
American Quarterly Review of June, 1832 : " If then a 
war should ever again arise between the United States 
and Great Britain, the policy of our country is obvious — 
the Acadian Peninsula must be ours at all hazards, and 
at any cost of blood or treasure. Were this once gained, 
the rest of the colonies would fall almost as soon as we 
might please to summon them." . . . . " For this pur- 
pose, a fortress, capable of sustaining a siege until it 
could be relieved, should be erected upon the upper val- 
ley of the St. John's" (which is debatable ground) "and 
connected with the settled country by a military road and 
a chain of fortified posts." . ..." As Americans, we 
cannot fear the final result of any contest that may arise. 
The relative strength of the two countries is continually 
changing, and becoming more and more favourable to 
us." This language, which savours so strongly of con- 
fident assurance, arises from a discussion upon the bound- 
ary in dispute between the State of Maine and New 
Brunswick. The article proves how fully alive the 
Americans are to the value of the disputed ground, as an 
annoyance in a military point of view to their rival, 
which has already been almost cut off from the protec- 
tion of the Canadas by concessions of the British Govern- 
ment, who have ever lost by treaty what they gained 
by the sword. It is a difficult matter to glean the full 
merits of the case, each party so pertinaciously adhering 

I* 



102 A SUBALTERN S FUIlLOtTGH. 

to its own interested statement. So far back as the treaty 
of Ryswick in 1697, when the boundary hne was at- 
tempted to be settled between Acadia, then under the 
dominion of the French, and New England under that of 
the mother country, an undecided question arose respect- 
ing the true river St. Croix, each party maintaining that 
stream to be the correct one which threw an additional 
tract of country into its territory. The same question 
was mooted with equal results in 1783, when time had 
wrought a wonderful change upon the face of affairs ; 
that which had formerly been New England was now a 
free and independent state ; and that which had been a 
French settlement was now New Scotland, paying alle- 
giance to Great Britain. In the treaty of London, in 
1794, the 5th article directly stated, " Whereas doubts 
have arisen what river was truly intended under the 
name of the river St. Croix," that question should be re- 
ferred to the final decision of commissioners. 

Again, in 1814, an article was framed in the treaty of 
Ghent, agreeing upon commissioners being appointed to 
survey the boundary line which had been described in 
former treaties. At this time the question might have 
been decided; the resources of the United States were 
exhausted, and they would gladly have made peace upon 
any terms, now, that tranquillity was restored upon the 
continent of Europe, England could turn its undivided 
powers against her more implacable enemy. But the 
high-minded British Commissioners yielded too easily to 
American chicanery, and, granting what could not be 
proved above a century previous, permitted a stream to 
be Called the St. Croix, and that branch of it the main 
one, which at once deprived them of the strongest argu- 
ment in their favour, and, to use the expression of a 
nautical man with whom I was conversing upon the sub- 
ject, "Now, they have let fly the main sheet, and are 
snatching at the rope's end." No person endowed with 
common sense could imagine for a moment, upon inspec- 
tion of the map, that the Briiish Commissioners, in the 
treaty of 1783, would have consented to the territorial 
possessions of the United States approaching within thir- 
teen miles of the St. Lawrence, and so deeply indenting 



A subalterin's furlough. 103 

into the British provinces. The Kennebec, to the west- 
ward of the present St. Croix, was the national boundary 
between the Enghsh and French in the ITth century, and 
it is affirmed by many that the Penobscot was the origi- 
nal St. Croix. In the commission, dated September 1768, 
appointing Montague Wilmot, Esq., Captain-General and 
Governor of Nova Scotia, the western boundary of that 
province is described as having " anciently extended and 
doth of right extend as far as the river rentagonet, or 
Penobscot ;" and the whole country to the eastward of 
that river was in actual possession of the British at the 
treaty of 1783. De Monts, the celebrated navigator or- 
dered out by Henry IV. of France, in 1603, to explore 
the coast of Nova Scotia, had the honour of giving name 
to the river where he wintered, which has been the sub- 
ject of so much controversy. It is not probable that such 
an experienced seaman would risk his vessels amidst the 
drift ice opposite the present town of St. Andrews, when 
so many safe harbours were scattered along the coast to 
the south-west. 

The boundary line is defined in the late treaties as 
passing up the centre to the source of the St. Croix ; 
thence due north until it strikes the highlands, which 
divide the waters running into the Atlantic Ocean from 
those which join the St. Lawrence ; thence along the 
said highlands to the north-westernmost head of the Con- 
necticut River, and down along the middle of it to the 
45th degree of north latitude. The commissioners dif- 
fered so materially in the determination of these highlands 
(upwards of 100 miles in a direct line) that, in conformi- 
ty with the treaty of Ghent, reference was made to the 
King of Holland, as umpire, who decided the matter to 
the disapprobation of both parties, giving the British so 
much of the territory as would include the mail road from 
Quebec to Halifax, and to the Americans a fortress built 
by them within the British frontiers near Lake Cham- 
piain, the most vulnerable point of the State of New 
York. At this very day the settlement of the question 
appears as far from adjustment as it was a century since. 
The United States would no doubt lay aside all claims, 
were an equivalent in the long sighed-for free navigation 



104 A subaltern's furlough. 

of the St. Lawrence oifered to them. Maine has com- 
mitted various acts of sovereignty upon the debatable 
ground within the last few years in granting lands, allow- 
ing her citizens to lumber upon the Aroostook River, and 
even opening a poll on the St. John's, a few miles above 
the Madawaska settlement, the several candidates for 
magisterial offices addressing the people from a cart. 
Soon, most probably, the American standard would have 
been flying upon the ramparts of a fort had not, fortu- 
nately for the British interests. Sir Archibald Campbell 
arrived from England at this critical period to assume 
the reins of government, and, with that firmness and 
active decision which are so charasteristic of him, pro- 
ceeded in person upon a tedious journey 400 miles in 
extent and seized some of the aggressors. The princi- 
pals absconded into Maine, and the authorities of that 
State interceded for the remission of the punishment 
justly awarded to those who were captured. The intrinsic 
value of the few thousands of :square miles involved in 
dispute is trifling, but they are inestimable when viewed 
with regard to the future prosperity and retention of the 
British provinces. 



A subaltern's furlough. 105 



CHAPTER VIII. 

It is a most beautiful country, being stored throughout with 
many goodly rivers, replenished with all sorts of fish. 

Spenser. 

Keep me company but two years, 
Thou shall not know the sound of thine own tongue — 
Farewell. 

Shakspeark. 

A little fire ia quickly trodden out, 

Which, being sutfered, rivers cannot quench. Ibid. 

On the 22d of September I embarked in a small steam- 
boat in company with Captain C, an old Burman friend, 
whom I was so fortunate as to find stationed at Frede- 
ricton, and who kindly offered to accompany me on a 
short tour through the province of Nova Scotia. We 
proceeded down the beautiful river St. John, (which re- 
ceived its name from being discovered by De Monts on 
the 24th of June, 1604, the day of St. John the Baptist), 
and 30 miles below Fredericton passed the embouchure 
of a small rivulet, which forms an outlet to the waters 
of the Grand Lake and its numerous tributary streams. 
At Newcastle, and on the borders of the Salmon Bayi at 
the upper end of the Lake, coal has been found in abun- 
dance ; but that hitherto discovered is of an inferior 
quality, and the works, for want of demand, are on a very 
limited scale. 

After crossing the mouth of the Kennebekasis River 
and entering Grand Bay, which is interspersed with nu- 
merous islands, we were enveloped in a dense fog, and, 
landing a few miles farther, at the Indian village a mile 
above the Falls, proceeded on foot into the town of St» 
John. For three days it had been obscured by fog, 
while with us all had been sunshine and heat, the fog not 
extending more than ten miles up the river. During the 
first day we saw nothing of the town beyond the curb- 
stones of the pavement, or the steps up to the doors of 



106 A subaltern's furlough. 

the houses ; but a heavy shower of rain, which came on 
while we were groping our way through the streets in 
search of the barracks and thoroughly drenched us, dis- 
pelled the fog, so that the following morning the sun rose 
bright and clear. 

The town, containing nearly 11,000 intiabitants, is 
built upon a rocky and irregular promontory, formed by 
the harbour and the river which here empties itself into 
the Bay of Fundy. The principal streets are broad, 
well paved, and neatly laid out, with excellent private 
dwellings, and some elegant stone public edifices. The 
corporation in a most spirited manner are laying out 
large sums of money in beautifying and levelling the 
streets, though much to the inconvenience of private in- 
dividuals, whose houses at the bottom of some hills have 
been blocked up by these improvements to the attic win- 
dows, so that a passer by may peep into the first or se. 
cond story. On the summit of the hill again 20 feet of 
solid rock have been cut away, leaving the dwellings 
perched on high, and allowing the occupants a view of 
little else save sky and the occasional roof of a lofty 
house. The barracks, a fine extensive range of build- 
ings, with some small batteries overlooking the sea and 
commanding the entrance to the harbour, occupy an 
elevated and pleasant situation in front of the town, 
whence in clear weather the opposite coast of Nova Sco- 
tia can be seen across the Bay of Fundy. 

Every thing about St. John's presented the air of a 
flourishing place, and numerous vessels were upon the 
stocks in the upper part of the bay, where the tide rises 
to the height of 30 feet. In point of commercial import- 
ance it is the capital of New Brunswick, and upwards of 
400 square-rigged vessels enter the port annually, ex- 
porting more than 100,000 tons of square timber. From 
Miramichi more than 300 vessels sail with even a greater 
quantity of timber than from St. John's ; and from St. 
Andrew's, which ranks as the third sea-port, from 150 to 
170 vessels with 25,000 ions of timber. In addition to 
these there are several minor ports, and from the whole 
collectively about 11,000 seamen are employed in the- 
trade of the province. It appears by returns made in the 



A subaltern's furlough. 107 

year 1824, when the trade was rather brisker than at 
present, that 324,260* tons of square timber were ex- 
ported from the various sea-ports, exchisive of spars, 
lathwood, and deals. St. John's possesses most of the 
hmnbering trade from the western coast of Nova Scotia, 
and, the duties upon English importations being hghter 
than at Halifax, it absorbs much of the traffic which 
would otherwise flow to that city. This and the adjoin., 
ing province of Nova Scotia, under different regulations, 
might have been still greater nurseries for British seamen 
than they are; their interests upon several occasions have 
been neglected by the mother country, who, by the treaty 
of 1783, granted to the United States participation in the 
fisheries, and a general permission to take fish at the dis- 
tance of a cannon-shot from the coast. This permission 
has been much abused by their frequently running in- 
shore at night, entering the bays to set their nets, in many 
instances forcibly preventing the British fishermen from 
carrying on the fishery, and destroying the fish by throw- 
ing the offal overboard, while the provincialists carry it 
ashore. These rights they forfeited by the war of 1812, 
but the renewal of them at the peace was strangely per- 
mitted, with the most injurious effects to the colonies. 

The immediate vicinity of the town, and for an extent 
of some miles up the river, is such a mass of rock, co- 
vered only here and there with stunted pine, as almost 
to deter any emigrants from penetrating into the interior, 
or at least to give them a very poor opinion of their 
adopted country. The only rich or fertile tract I saw 
was a narrow strip of land about a mile in width, running 
between two ridges of rocks away from the bay, and 
which had been redliaimed from the bed of a river or 
large inlet. By som'fei"- people it is imagined to be the 
course of the St. John's previous to its bursting through 
the ridge of rocks which create the Falls. The opening 
through which that river passes is in the narrowest part 
called the " spht rock," and not more than 40 yards in 
width ; a quarter of a mile higher up the stream is a se- 
cond pass, from 150 to 200 yards v/ide, above which the 

* Cooney's History of Part of New Brunswick. 



108 A subaltern's furlough. 

river expands into a capacious bay. The great rush of 
the tide is such, and it rises so rapidly, that the water at 
the flood is some feet higher below the split rock than 
above it, and renders it impassable, except at high wa- 
ter, for half an hour, and the same fall is formed at the 
ebb tide, when it is again passable for the same time at 
low water. Boats frequently venture too far, not aware 
of the time of tide, and are lost in the whirlpools and 
eddies ; one, containing three men, had been lost the day 
before we visited them, the most powerful swimmer not 
being able to gain the shore. The noise from them can 
be distinctly heard at the distance of some miles, and the 
harbour, a mile below them, is covered with floating froth 
a foot in thickness. A few years since an engineer offi- 
cer proposed undermining or blasting the rocks, which 
vary from 50 to 100 feet in height, and thus opening a 
passage for the free admission of the tide ; but the project 
was opposed by the landholders some miles above the 
town, who represented that the river would thus be drain- 
ed and rendered too shallow for navigation. 

Leaving St. John's in a steamer on the 24th, with the 
sea as smooth as a lake, but the vessel rolling heavily, 
we passed out of the beautiful harbour by Partridge Island 
(the quarantine station at the entrance, which, being 
high and rocky, is an excellent breakv/ater and shelter to 
the harbour in easterly gales,) and steered for the Nova 
Scotian coast, forty miles distant. The lofty heights in 
rear of the city, the various Martello towers and light- 
houses on Partridge Island and the headlands, the batteries 
and barracks rising upon a gentle acclivity from the bar- 
hour, with the ruins of old Fort Howe frowning from a 
rocky precipice over the city, which is built upon several 
eminences, form a picturesque scene when viewed fix)m 
the Bay of Fundy. ^ 

In five hours we entered the strait of Annapolis (or 
Digby, as it is frequently called,) which is about a third 
of a mile in width, with high lands from 500 to 600 feet 
in height upon either shore. A violent tide rushing 
through it into the Bay of Fundy renders it next to an 
impossibility for a vessel to beat against a head wind into 
the Basin of Digby, one of the finest summer harbours 



A StJBALTERN's FURLOUGH* 109 

on the American continent, and in which the whole Brit- 
ish navy might ride with safety. Were batteries thrown 
up at the entrance of the strait, the passage would be 
rendered utterly impracticable at any time. In winter, 
however, it is rendered unsafe from the vast quantities of 
ice which drift down from the Annapolis River. Several 
wigwams were erected upon the sandy beach by the In- 
dians, who, with their rifles, assemble throughout the 
summer for the purpose of shooting porpoises in the 
basin ; and, by afterwards disposing of the oil which 
they extract, they manage to make a tolerable livelihood. 
We saw several paddling about in their canoes, who ap- 
peared very expert, and were informed it was no uncom- 
mon thins: for them to kill at a sinsjle shot. The basin 
is also celebrated for its chickens (a species of herring;) 
but of late years their number has considerably decreas* 
ed, owing to the numerous wears, which destroyed the 
young fish. The small town of Digby, which owed its 
origin to the fisheries, is prettily situated on a light gra- 
velly soil at the water's edge, about three miles from the 
entrance of the strait. After passing an hour or two 
there, we pursued our course up the basin, which for its 
whole extent is divided from the Bay of Fundy by only a 
narrow chain of hills, between whose base and the mar- 
gin of the basin there is a strip of about a mile in breadth 
of well-populated and cultivated land. Near the head of 
the basin, at the influx of the Moose River, are the re- 
mains of an iron foundry which was commenced in 1825, 
by the Annapolis Mining Company, with a capital of one 
hundred shares of lOOZ. each, and afterwards increased 
to double the amount, but failed through improper manage- 
ment, and is now mortgaged for a trifling sum. There 
was a fine field open for their undertaking, nearly all the 
minerals throughout the country being reserved by the 
Crown, and granted for sixty years by the late Duke of 
York to Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, who have only 
opened some coal mines at Pictou on the northern coast 
of the province. 

We arrived at Annapolis, situated ten or twelve miles 
up the river of the same name, early in the afternoon. 
Though formerly a town of so much note, it has now 

VOL. II. K. 



110 A subaltern's FtlRLOUGII* 

dwindled down into a place of inconsiderable importance, 
not containing more than 1300 inhabitants. From the 
year 1712, when Nova Scotia was ceded finally to Great 
Britain by the treaty of Utrecht (which took place two 
years after the conquest of the country by General Ni- 
cholson with the forces of Queen Anne,) until 1749, it 
was the capital of the province, but in that year the seat 
of government was transferred to Halifax. From the 
first exploration of the country in 1603 by De Monts, 
who built a fort there and named it Fort Royal, until 
1712, it changed masters eight times, having been re- 
stored to France by treaty every successive time it was 
taken by the English. The old fort is yet extant upon 
a point of land formed immediately below the town, by 
the junction of a small stream with the Annapolis river, 
and is occupied by a detachment of infantry from Hali- 
fax. An old block-house, and a square brick building' 
within the ramparts, bear such outward signs of antiquity 
that one might almost imagine them to be coeval with 
the original French settlers. The principal part of the 
town runs in one street, parallel with the river above the 
fort ; but to the eastward of it, on the land side, there is 
a continued succession of neat private residences for nearly 
a mile, all of which have gardens prettily laid out, and 
even quickset hedges. These last immediately attracted 
our attention, being the first I had seen in North Ame- 
rica, though, at this time, I had travelled 2500 miles in 
it. The orchards are extensive and numerous, much 
cider being made in this part of the province, and I could 
have fancied myself in an English village, had it not been 
for the negroes with whom the street swarmed, and whom 
I should never have expected to see in such numbers so 
far to the north. 

On the morning of the 25th of September we left An- 
napolis, pursuing our journey to Bridgetown, fourteen or 
fifteen miles distant, where we crossed to the right bank 
of the river and followed its course over a poor and ex- 
ceedingly light soil. The township of Ailsby, fifteen 
miles in length, produces only a crop of rye and Indian 
corn in three or four years, and then lies by for pasture 
for a length of time. 



A subaltern's FURLOtJGH. Ill 

The day was stormy, with heavy rains, and the coach 
only a second-hand American one, with " Western Mail, 
New York and Hoboken," upon the doors ; neither was 
it water-proof, the canvass curtains hanging down in long 
shreds, and flapping to and fro with the wind. Tlie horses 
too were poor specimens of the Nova Scotian steeds, 
three out of the four being lame ; the coachman however 
was perhaps one shade more professional in his appear- 
ance than those in the Slates. I attempted to kill time by 
reading Bulwer's Eugene Aram, but was incessantly in- 
terrupted, when devouring one of the most interesting 
chapters, by a prosing little woman, eighty years of age, 
with snow-white hair, rosy cheeks, bright black eyes, and 
a set of teeth which would not have disgraced a Brahmin. 
She was the very picture of good health, but most unfor- 
tunately my neighbour, and apparently took a great fancy 
to me, as the fjll benefit of her colloquial powers was 
bestowed upon me in some such interesting conversation 
as " Aye, these barrens are very dreary, but you will 
soon come to the settlement : — now there's a pretty inter- 
vale — this is a poor territory." 

Near the village of Ailsby we passed in sight of Cler- 
mont, the pretty country residence of the Bishop of Nova 
Scotia, and a {"ew miles farther entered the Cariboo 
Swamps. It is the source of two rivers, the Annapolis 
and Corowallis, which rise within a few paces of each 
other by tiie road-side, and flow to the ocean in opposite 
directions, one emptying itself into the Basin of Minas 
and the other into the Basin of Digby. It was formerly 
a favourite hunting ground of the Ind.ans, but few of the 
animals from wliich its name is derived are now to be 
found in any part of the country. 

Every one forms some ideas of a place before he visits 
it, and mine were fully realized throughout this day's 
journey. After leaving the swamp we entered dense 
forests of pine, unvaried by a solitary habitation for 
many miles, and the few small clearings were plentifully 
covered with Nova Scotian sheep, alias large black 
stones; but at Kentville, where we passed the night, the 
country assumed a more fertile appearance, and our road 
continued within sight of the large prairie and rich dikes 



112 A subaltern's furlough. 

of Cornwallis and Horton. A long range of hills, from 
1000 to 1200 feet in height, commence just beyond the 
village of Gaspereaux, which derives its name from a 
poor description of herring which run up a small stream 
in shoals during the spring, and are caught in such vast 
quantities that the fishermen frequently allow the poor 
people to take them away gratis. They also form a con- 
siderable article of trade with the West Indian islands. 
The rivulet winds up rather a pretty and fertile valley, 
twelve miles in length, between the village and the moun- 
tains, and has its source from a lake at the head. The 
view of Cape Blomidon,or Blow-me-down (as it is now sig- 
nificantly called, from the heavy gusts of wind which pre- 
vail oif its bluff point,) with the Basin of Minas and the 
opposite shore, is a fine and extensive one when taken from 
the high part of the Horton Mountains over which the road 
passes. For the first time in America, I saw a drag 
chain used in their descent, but the road was excellent ; 
and though closely packed with eight people inside, and 
only two seats, we travelled the ten miles in an hour and 
ten minutes. 

Making a circuitous route of six miles in twenty, vire 
crossed the Avon, about 180 yards wide, and arrived at 
Windsor to breakfast. If a bridge were constructed 
across the river at this town many miles of mountainous 
country would be avoided. We were informed that one 
was in meditation some j'ears since, and that the abut- 
ments of it were actually commenced, but the work was 
abandoned for some unknown reason. A long wooden 
pile of building, with a flat roof, occupies an eminence 
one mile from the town, with twenty-five windows in each 
story, which, consequently, might be reasonably supposed 
to be a cotton mill ; but, not being in the vicinity of any 
water, I came to the conclusion that it was a barrack : my 
loquacious neighbour however set me to rights by inform- 
ing me that it was the college. It certainly exhibits a 
strange architectural taste, though quite a modern building, 
the institution having been founded only thirty years. At 
this time there were twenty. one students, who are eligi- 
ble at the early age of fourteen, on account of young men 
entering so early in life. They are required to wear the 



A subaltern's furlough. 113 

cap and gown, but little attention appears to be paid in 
this respect to the rules of the college. 1 saw some very 
unacademically-dressed young men in green shooting 
jackets, standing at the hotel door, smoking cigars and 
surveying each passenger as he stepped out of the coach. 
The only mark of scholastic garb they wore was the 
square cap and tassel ; and one of them crossed the street 
with his gown folded up and carried under one arm and a 
large stick under the other. The qualifications of the 
president are, that he must have taken a degree either 
of M. A. or Bachelor in Civil Law at Oxford, Cambridge, 
or Dublin. There are twelve divinity scholarships at- 
tached to the college by the Society for Propagating the 
Gospel in Foreign Parts, each scholar enjoying 30/. per 
annum for seven years. The object being that people 
may be induced to educate their children for the ministry 
of the Church of England, there are also four scholar- 
ships of 20/. tenable only for four years. At the foot of 
the hill upon which the college is erected is a large sub- 
stantial stone building, used as a preparatory academy. 
It was built at an expense of 6000/., and has also twelve 
divinity scholarships of 30/. attached to it, which are held 
either for seven years or until matriculation, and, as well 
as those at the college, are nominated by the bishop and 
appointed by the society. 

Windsor, equally with every Nova Scotia n town which 
I visited, impressed me favourably with the province. 
The streets are clean, and the houses have a respectable 
and pleasing appearance, superior to the Canadian villa- 
ges. The town is situated upon the margin of the Avon, 
where it is 1100 feet broad, and is the great port for the 
exportation of gypsum, of which nearly 100,000 tons are 
carried annually to the United States for the purposes of 
farming ; but it is very little used in the province as a ma- 
nure, either not suiting the soil, or being improperly ap- 
plied. The whole fa?e of the surrounding country is scarr- 
ed with quarries, and the lofty banks of the river St. Croix, 
a few miles distant, are composed of the same mineral, 
and are nearly as white as the cliffs of Dover. It does 
not lie in a compact body, bui is intermixed with red and 
blue clay. After exportation, it is ground fine in a mill 



114 A subaltern's furlough. 

and scattered over the land by the hand in about tlie pro- 
portion of five bushels to the acre, answering well upon 
a dry sandy soil, and showing a dark mark upon the grass, 
which springs up in the parts where it has been scattered. 
It is also said to prevent that bane of the farmer, the rust 
in the wheat, which are supposed to be occasioned by the 
thick fogs of Nova Scotia. When we arrived at Windsor 
and walked to the piers, where the vessels were loading 
with gypsum, the bed of the river had a most singular 
appearance. As far as the eye could reach, only a thick 
bed ot yellow mud was visible, and the keels of the ves- 
sels were 40 feet above the level of a small fresh-water 
brook, which flowed in a narrow gully through it. The 
height of the tide increases in an unaccountable manner 
as it approaches the N. E. along the whole coast of North 
America. At New York common flood does not average 
more than 5 or 6 feet ; at St. John's it is from 20 to 25, at 
Windsor about 35, and, increasing in rapidity as the ba- 
sin becomes narrower, it rises near Fort Cumberland 
and Truro to the astonishing height of 75 feet in the spring 
tides. The captain of a vessel assured me that he had 
cast anchor in twelve fathoms' water in Ciiignecto Basin, 
and had walked round his craft at low ebb. 

The crops throughout our journey appeared in a most 
deplorable state ; in many parts they were yet green, 
though it was now the 26th of September, and some were 
entirely destroyed by the frost, which had been capricious 
in the extreme : one field was probably quite destroyed, 
and the farmer at work cutting it for winter fodder, while 
the next was yet in a flourishing state. Owing to the 
lateness of the spring, and the early Seplember frosts, it 
seemed probable that the farmer's yearly labours would 
receive but a poor return. Winter wheat is not sown in 
consequence of being liable to be thrown out of the ground 
at spring by the effects of the severe frosts in winter, and 
spring wheat is raised with difficulty in some parts of the 
province. The crops in good upland vary fr-omlG to 25 
bushels.* The other grains, however, grow well, oats 
yielding 25, rye 16, and barley 20 bushels. Indian corn 

* Halliburton's history of Nova Scotia. 



A subaltern's furlough. 115 

produces from 25 to 30 bushels, but it requires long heat, 
and the climate of Nova Scotia is too treacherous to be 
trusted long with impunity ; this year 1 do not recollect 
seeing above two crops which promised to repay the far- 
mer. The land is admirably calculated for potatoes, an 
average produce being 20U bushels per acre ; and the 
rotation of crops, after breaking up the green sward, is 
to commence with oats, followed by potatoes the second, 
and wheat the third year, when again potatoes, then 
wheat, accompanied by Clover and Timothy seed. Few 
farms are divided into fields which receive a prescribed 
treatment in turn, but remain in grass until the failure of 
the crops indicates the necessity of change; wheat and 
oats are generally sown in April, Indian corn between 
10th of May and 5th of June, barley and buck- wheat 1st 
of June, and turnips 10th of July. Mowing usually com- 
mences the last week of July, and reaping the same time 
in August, but this season the hny was not stacked as 
late as the 9ih of October. The following return was 
made a few years since under authority of the local gov- 
ernment : Quantity of land in Nova Scotia, exclusive of 
Cape|Breton, 9,994,880 acres, of these 6,119,939 have 
beenfgranted, but 1,781,292 have been escheated, leav- 
ing at the disposal of tlie crown 5.656,233 acres. Of the 
above quantity three parts is prime land, four ditto good, 
three inferior, and iwo incapable of cultivation : this is 
exclusive of lakes and land covered with water. The 
horned cattle are well shaped ; but the horses, though 
hardy, are of a mixed Canadian, American, and English 
breed, and have fallen otf of late years. When the Duke 
of Kent was governor of the province he used his utmost 
endeavours, by the importation of several Arab horses, 
to introduce a good breed, and partly succeeded ; but 
since then the best horses have been drained off by pur- 
chasers from the States. New Brunswick produces a 
superior breed in swiftness and beauty. A celebrated 
horse in that province, some few years since, took a sleigh 
upon the ice from St. John's to Fredericton, a distance of 
76 miles, in six hours and a half. A useful pony, rivall- 
ing the Shetland in diminutiveness, and varying from 5Z. 



116 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH 

to IL in price, is in common use amongst the young pBO- 
pie of Nova Scotia. It is imported from Sable Island, an 
almost barren sand, 35 leagues from the coast, upon which 
a ^Qsv ponies of a larger breed were landed many years 
since as Ibod for shipwrecked seamen, but, their numbers 
increasing too rapidly for the extent of herbage, many 
have been withdrawn, and a humane establishment has 
been instituted there at an expense of 800/ per annum. 
From the same return which is quoted above it appears 
that the cultivated land in Nova Scotia amounts only to 
1,292,009 acres, though the first crop after clearing the 
ground always repays all expenses of labour and pur. 
chasing seed, the expense of felling and clearing away the 
wood being from 25 to 30 shillmgs per acre; for cutting, 
heaping, burning, and fencing, 3/. I observed that here, 
as in the States, the sickle was but little used, the cradle 
scythe doing its work more expeditiously. 

We changed our coach at Windsor for one of larger 
dimensions, and, the Halifax races commencing the fol- 
lowing day, we had an addition to our party of half a 
dozen lawyers and attorneys returning from the circuit 
to enjoy the gaiety of the capital. My prosing old tor- 
ment contrived to place herself beside me again, and, 
after congratulating me upon the vicinity we had pre- 
served, she transferred her little grand-daughter from 
the centre seat, where her bonnet was crushed into every 
possible shape but the one the maker did intend, to a 
place upon mv knee. What with the child, the old 
dame's vexatious garrulity, and fifteen inside passengers 
upon a hot day, I was almost worked into a fever, and 
was therefore happy to escape when we stopped to 
change horses, and walk up the Ardoise Mountain. 
This mountain derives its name from the slate with 
which it abounds, -and which appears upon the surface in 
every direction, but the monopoly of Messrs. Rundell 
and Bridge laid an injunction on a quarry which was 
opened a few years since. The circumstance rather re- 
minds one of the fable of the dog in the manger ; for 
the material would be in great demand for building, and 
soon supersede the combustible shingles which at this 
time are in general use. The road continues over high 



A subaltern's PURLOtrOH. 117 

ground, after gaining the summit, passing between many- 
lagoons varying in size from 20 to 40 acres, which afford 
excellent trout fishing, and have some good land near 
them. One farm especially, the property of Mr. Jef- 
fries, Collector of Customs at Halifax, was quite a treat 
to a traveller who had been so long accustomed to see 
nothing but a most slovenly system of agriculture. It 
displayed much better management than that of his near 
neighbour, Mr. Uniacke, late Attorney-General, whose 
farm and house were erected upon such a barren spot, 
and so much money had been expended upon the estate, 
that, to use a fellow-passenger's expression, " for every 
stone he had picked up he had laid down a dollar." 
Each house is prettily situated near a small lake, with 
undulating and well-cleared grounds, laid out in gardens 
and with quickset hedges ; they had also planted several 
hundreds of English oaks in the hedge-rows, which ap- 
peared to be thriving tolerably. The same fellow-pas- 
senger related the following anecdote to us, respecting 
this unproductive farm. The oiginal proprietor was 
taken prisoner during the war of the Revolution, and 
marched under suspicion of being a spy to Halifax, from 
the opposite extremity of the Province. On his route 
to the capital, he requested permission of the escort to 
rest himself for a few minutes upon a stone by the road- 
side (which, in corroboration of the veracity of the story, 
was pointed out to us), and, while sitting upon it, he said 
that if ever he was so fortunate as to acquire his liberty, 
and gain an independent fortune, he would purchase the 
land upon which it lay. In process of time his antici- 
pations were realized, and, purchasing 5000 acres of 
that rocky country, he expended nearly 25,000/. upon 
them. He was spoken highly of as being a charitable 
man, and giving employ to numerous workmen. The 
house now bids fair for becoming a mass of ruins, the 
present possessor not admiring so unsociable and deso- 
late a place. 

A deep dell was shown to me by the road side as 
being considered ver}^ similar in appearance to the valley 
in which Napoleon was buried at St. Helena. " Very 
like a whale," said I. There was certainly a valley. 



118 A subaltern's furlough. 

but there the likeness ended ; a rapid rivulet rushed 
through the bottom of it, but the water was scarcely vi- 
sible through the stunted underwood which clothed the 
sides of the ravine. The adjoining clearings produced 
a crop of oats, above which the innumerable stumps ap- 
peared thick and crowded as men upon a chess-board, 
and a few miserable M^ooden shantys completed the 
scene. The observation, however, produced an ani- 
mated conversation, the fourteen insides giving their 
opinions upon the ci-devant emperor's character at one 
time, and forming a Dutch concert in all the various mo- 
dulations of voice, from high tenor to a deep base. The 
attack was commenced upon me by my old plague as 
follows : " My heart always swells when I hear Boney's 
name mentioned ; and I think he died of grief — for you 
know you feel your heart swell when you are sorry for 
any thing, and his heart was very large when he died — 
I somehow think he died of pining." I was troubled at 
tills moment with a most violent cough. *' I think he 
died of taking snufF," said an elderly man, suiting the 
action to the word. " And that gave him a cancer on 
his liver, I suppose," observed a third. Being thus hap- 
pily relieved from an answer, I left the worthy trio, as- 
sisted by the full chorus of eleven, to battle it out by 
themselves. 

There certainly ought not to be any apology required 
for a man committing suicide in the twenty miles after 
passmg the Ardoise Mountain, nor any fog necessary to 
disgust him with life if compelled to take up his abode in 
such a country. A new line of road had been laid out 
some two or three years previously, and, nothing being 
expended upon the repairs of the old one, we had to jolt 
about most unmercifully over huge rocks and deep wa- 
ter-courses. It was well, indeed, that we were packed 
so close, and had not much space for pitching to and fro. 
Our road lay through the leafless forest, which was con- 
sumed in the summer of 1825, at the same time as the 
awful fire at Miramichi in New Brunswick, which spread 
over six thousand square miles, destroying towns, human 
beings, wild beasts, and even the natives of the streams 
in its devouring course. Nothing can exceed the deso* 



A subaltern's furlough. IIQ 

late appearance of the country over which it swept ; the 
trees either yet remain, hardened by the fire, in their 
natural position, and casting a wintry gloom over the 
few green shrubs which are creeping up again at inter- 
vals beneath them, or have been consumed by internal 
fire, leaving only a mere shell or skeleton. It is a sin- 
gxilar fact that in most instances where the forest has 
been consumed by fire a different growth of wood springs 
up from that which the ground formerly produced ; thus 
a hard timber is frequently succeeded by a soft one, and 
maple or birch shoot out from amongst the roots of the 
pine. The quality of the soil is nevertheless generally 
known by the growth of the timber; black and yellow 
birch, with elm, ash, hemlock, or maple, are certain in- 
dications of a rich soil. A small growth of white birch 
denotes a thin cold soil, and pine a dry sandy ground : 
though this rule does not always hold good, as strips of 
pine are frequently found in the best land. 

Night had set in by the time we had arrived within ten 
miles of Halifax, and I, allowing my head to sink down 
upon my breast, breathed hard, and affected sleep, for the 
purpose of avoiding the old lady who was by far a greater 
plague to me than ever the old man of the sea was to 
Sinbad the sailor. But all this ruse de guerre was of 
no avail : " I am sure you will never wish to travel with 
such an old woman again," said she ; " most sincerely 
shall I pray for it," groaned I ; and my evil genius per- 
severed, in describing the Bedford Basin upon whose 
margin we were now travelling, and related " how the 
French admiral and fleet scuttled themselves and went 
down with colours flying in the presence of the English, 
sooner than surrender," and how the mast of the admi- 
ral's ship was yet visible above low water on a calm day. 
I was mute, but ever and anon peered out, and squinted 
through one eye to the right and left, in hopes of seeing 
the long-wished for city ; but there was only the white 
light water of the basin below, or the dark outline of 
houses at intervals on the right, with the roaring stream 
of the Sackville, as it descended over its rocky bed from 
the chain of lakes we had passed during the day. I al- 
most shouted with joy when the exclamation of " there 



120 A subaltern's furlough. 

is the cily-dell" (citadel) broke from her, and we en- 
tered the streets just as the vivid flash of the heavy gun 
from the ramparts, and the numerous bugles and drums 
of the garrison, announced that it was eight o'clock. 



A subaltern's furlough. 121 

CHAPTER IX. 

And bad the nimblest racer seize the prize. 

Pope. 

I sometimes lay here in Corioli, 
. he used me kindly. 

Shakspeare. 

Vain transitory splendour ! could not all 
Reprive the tott'ring mansion from its fall ? 
Obscure it sinks. 

Goldsmith. 

I HAVE seldom witnessed a livilier scene than the Ha- 
lifax race-course presented on the 27th of September. 
The day was remarkably favourable ; not even a passing 
cloud appeared to plead an excuse for not formino- part 
of the show. By mid^day the city had poured forth all 
its inhabitants, both horse and foot, who were either 
grouped upon the ramparts or brow of the citadel hill 
or listening to the military bands who played between 
the heats on the plain below. The scene was rendered 
more enlivening by the numerous gay uniforms of the 
rifle brigade, 8th and 98th regiments, which, with de- 
tachments of artillery and engineers, composed the gar- 
rison. The races had been set on foot by the officers of 
the army and navy upon the station, many of whom 
carried off the palm of victory in competition with pro- 
fessional jockeys. They were more suitably equipped 
too for running a race, according to an Englishman's 
notions of dress, than the provincialists, who cut rather 
an outre appearance riding in their shoes and loose 
trowsers. Many of the races were well contested, and 
the sports were kept up with great spirit for three days. 
A captain and subaltern became field officers on the 
course, owing to the treachery of the ground which gave 
way under the horses when they were making nearly 
their last spring to gain the winning-post. A midship- 

VOL, II. L, 



122 A subaltern's furlough. 

man merited by his perseverance what he could not gain 
by the fleetness of his steed, as he ran for almost every 
stake, from the cup down to the saddle and bridle. The 
grand stand consisted of a few pine boards loosely tacked 
together, and was altogether a most frail and tottering 
erection, and prior to trusting one's life in it, it would 
have been a matter of prudence to have insured it. We 
had one or two false alarms of " coming down," from 
boys scrambling upon the roof, or gentlemen of heavy 
weight venturing upon the floor ; but, the generality of 
the ladies preferring to witness the races from their own 
carriages, the show upon the stand was limited to about 
a dozen or eighteen people. All booths for the sale of 
spirituous liquors were prohibited near the course, but 
the law was evaded by the proprietors of contiguous fields 
letting them for the erection of tents, which proved of 
some service in attracting all those who had an inclina- 
tion to be disorderly away from the peaceable portion of 
the assembjage. 

We dined at the public ordinary the same afternoon, 
held in the Mason's Hall, a room of noble dimensions, 
but rendered gloomy by the ceiling being painted in most 
deplorable taste of a deep black colour, varied here and 
there with a streak of white, a compass, a rule, an eye, 
and other strange devices of the craft. I could compare 
the general effect only to that of a storm about to burst 
over the heads of the company, and it certainly much 
marred the beauty of the ladies who attended the ball in 
the same room the following evening. The cup, which 
had been made at New York, was produced after the 
cloth was removed for presentation to the winner, a ci- 
tizen, and I beheve the only one who entered a horse for 
the races. 

The peninsula upon which Halifax stands is formed 
by the harbour, called Chebucto, and the north-west 
arm, which branches off at Point Pleasant, three miles 
below the city (the entrance being guarded by redoubts 
and Martello towers), and runs almost parallel to the 
harbour, approaching within a mile of Bedford Basin. 
Melville Island, where the American prisoners of war 
were confined, is situated under the rocky and lofly 



A subaltern's furlough. 123 

wooded bank a short distance from the entrance, but 
only a few old houses and a mill now remain upon il. 
The harbour is about 16 miles in length, and from 1 1-2 
to 2 in breadth, terminating in Bedford Basin, which 
would alone furnish a safe anchorage for the whole 
British navy, the entrance to it not exceeding 800 yards 
in width, when it expands to a noble sheet six miles by 
four. The approach from the sea is well protected by 
the fortifications at York Point, some miles below the 
city, and George's Island opposite the lowest extremity 
of it. M'Nabb's Island of 1100 acres, purchased a few 
years since for 1000/., protects the shipping from the 
fury of the Atlantic. The peninsula rises rather ab- 
ruptly from the water, the streets being laid out parallel 
with the harbour from north to south ; but they are much 
confined by the citadel on the summit of the hill, and 
the crown reserves around it. The city is consequently 
much compressed in width, and occupies only a narrow 
strip of land, being about two miles and a half in length 
by a quarter of a mile in width, and all the cross streets 
are inconveniently steep, but the corporation were as 
actively employed as at St. John's in levelling and mak- 
ing them more commodious. The buildings are nearly 
all of wood, there not being more than 150 stone houses 
out of 1600. At the last census, in 1828, the popula- 
tion was 14,439 souls, the increase since the peace being 
but trifling. During the war it was the great British 
naval depot of North America, and the dock-yard esta- 
blishment gave life and employ to the city ; but a few 
years since a great portion of it was transferred to the 
Bermudas, as being central between the North American 
colonies and the West Indies, and the harbour not being 
liable to be closed by the ice during the winter months. 
There are great objections, however, to Bermuda, on the 
score of the climate, which destroys more naval stores 
in one year than Halifax would in half a dozen. The 
admiral and commissioner divide their time of residence 
equally between the two stations, and were on the point 
of sailing for Bermuda when we quitted Halifax. 

The citadel, which is raised upon an old fort of smaller 
dinaensions, will not be completed for some years ; the 



124 A subaltern's furlough. 

work is carried on chiefly by the soldiers of the garrison, 
who receive 9d. per diem extra while employed during 
the summer months. The position is a commanding one, 
and a fine prospect is afforded from the ramparts. The 
barracks at present occupied by the troops are of wood, 
with very little to recommend them, except some fine 
mess-rooms, and a library instituted by Lord Dalhonsie, 
when Governor of the province. A fire would prove of 
infinite service towards beautifying the city, by destroy- 
ing both them and a great proportion of the private 
dwelling-houses. Those even which are built of sub- 
stantial materials are principally of the shaley iron- stone 
rock of which the peninsula is formed, and v/hich con- 
tains such a quantity of the ore that it oozes out in long 
streaks down the walls, and gives them a most lugubri- 
ous and prison-like appearance. Some of the public 
edifices are of a handsome freestone, and the Province 
Building, as it is called, situated in an open square, sur- 
rounded by an iron railing, and the interior prettily plant- 
ed with locust-trees, would not disgrace the capital of 
Great Britain. It contains rooms for the Council, House 
of Assembly, and all the provincial offices. Its external 
dimensions are 140 feet in length, 70 in width, and 42 in 
height ; but the colonists do not appear to feel much pride 
about the grandeur of it, and their approbation of it is 
smothered in complaints of the extravagance of the cost. 
They have another source of lamentation in Dalhousie 
College, which occupies one end of the parade, where 
the guards mount daily, and which was commenced in 
1820, but not completed for want of the necessary funds. 
It is, also, a handsome freestone building, but unoccupied. 
Part of it, from humane motives, had been fitted up by 
the Governor as a cholera hospital, as well as the levee 
room at Government House ; but fortunately neither of 
them was required. The latter is situated near the lower 
extremity of the town, but rather too near a burial 
gronnd. There are only two churches of the Protestant 
episcopal religion, St. Paul's and St. George's, the latter 
a plain circular wooden edifice, bearing a close resem- 
blance to the Coliseum : besides these, the Catholics and 
dissenting sects have six chapels. The number of pla» 



A subaltern's furlough. 125 

ces of public worship, in proportion to the number of 
inhabitants, appeared far less in the British provinces 
than in the United States. On the banks of the river 
St. John, the great turnpike of New Brunswick, and 
along which much of the population is scattered, there 
was barely a church in every 30 miles ; and though on 
our route to Halifax they exceeded in number those in 
the sister province, yet still they were comparatively few 
to those in the States. The provincialists are exempt 
from all tithes, the ministers of the Church of England 
being supported by the Society for Propagating the Gos- 
pel in Foreign Parts, from which they receive an annuity 
of about 200Z. sterling (nearly 250/. currency^. The 
Society also allows 251. for each new church, and one 
was pointed out to me which had been actually erected 
for that sum. In addition to the tv/enty-one clergymen 
thus paid, they have also many schoolmasters and cate- 
chists in Nova Scotia, upon salaries from 15 to 20 and 
30Z. per annum. The followers of the church of Scot- 
land are the most numerous of the various denominations 
in the province, there being by the last official return 
37,225 ; of England, 28,659 ; of Rome, 20,401 ; Bap- 
tists, 19,790, and only three Jews, who, as the American 
saying is, are no match for any one in Yankee land, or 
the countries north of New York. 

We attended the theatre one evening to witness the 
performance of " Simpson and Co.," and the " Poor Sol- 
dier;"* but almost took alarm at the box-office, which 
was in a damp corner on the ground floor behind a green 
curtain, where we received some dirty play bills, not 
broader than the riband of a lady's bonnet. The inte- 
rior of the house well corresponded with it. We managed 
to obtain seats in the front box, from which an active 
man might have almost leaped over the people's heads 
in the pit on to the stage. Altogether it was much like 
performing in a sentry-box; v/e were so close to Ihe 
performers, that a darkened eye-brow or rouged cheek 
could be easily detected, and the prompter's voice was 
heard in every sentence ; yet, spite of these objections, 
the good citizens were flattering themselves that Fanny 
Kemble would extend her engagements from the States 

L* 



126 A subaltern's furlough. 

to the capital of Nova Scotia. The house was very 
thinly attended, but the heat was so oppressive that in 
half an hour we were glad to beat a retreat to our quar- 
ters, where I was again, for the second time during my 
travels, confined to my bed by indisposition for two days, 
but was happily surrounded by military friends, who soon 
set me on horsebock again. I gave the band -box of a 
theatre the full credit of inducing if not of producing my 
indisposition. 

We enjoyed many pleasant rides towards Point Plea- 
sant, and the pretty private residences near the city, and 
passed an entire day in visiting Rockingham, where 
Prince's Lodge, formerly the Duke of Kent's country 
seal, is mouldering into dust, and in making the circuit 
of Bedford Basin. The road winds prettily along the 
margin of the water through a thick grove of birch and 
forest trees, crossing innumerable rivulets which pour 
their tributary streams into the basin from the rocky and 
but thinly inhabited country with which it is surrounded. 
The lodge is a large wooden building six miles from the 
city, without any claims to architectural beauty, and, 
from its numerous large sash windows, may be likened 
to a conservatory or a lantern, there certainly being a 
greater.proportion of glass than timber in the front. The 
grounds have been laid out tastefully, and the situation 
is exceedingly beautiful, overlooking the broad expanse 
of the basin, from the edge of which it is about 300 yards. 
After the Duke's departure from the province, the pro- 
perty came into the possession of Sir John Wentworth, 
the Lieutenant-Governor, who allowed it to fall into its 
present ruinous and forlorn state. Not a vestige of the 
double tier of verandahs remains ; the balcony and pa- 
rapet railing are hanging in the most douhtCul svspense ; 
and, when we expressed a wish to see the interior, the 
old soldier in charge said that he would not insure us 
against either vanishing through one of the floors or be- 
ing buried under the falling roof. The old guard-house 
has been converted into the stables of a comfortable inn, 
the scene of many garrison ^ ic-nics and citizens' Sunday 
parties. 

We continued our route to the village of Sackville, at 



A subaltern's furlough. 127 

the head of the basin, three miles farther, where there is 
a small military post for the apprehension of deserters ; 
and struck into the forest by a bridle path, over the same 
rough and hilly country to the village of Dartmouth on 
the opposite side of the harbour. The Shubenacadie 
Canal, which was designed for the purpose of connect- 
ing the Basin of Minas with the harbour, and thus di- 
verting part of the trade of the western towns of the pro- 
vince from St. John's in New Brunswick, has its com- 
mencement in rear of the village. The original estimate 
of the expense of finishing the entire work was 75,000Z., 
the canal being 53 miles in length, and 60 feet in width 
at the surface, with sufficient depth of water for vessels 
of eight feet draught. The locks were to be 90 feet in 
length within the chambers, and 19 1-2 feet in width, in 
order that steam boats might tow vessels of considerable 
burden fi'om Halifax into the Bay of Fundy, and thus 
save them the long circuit of a dangerous coast. The 
legislature at the commencement made a grant of 
15,000/., and the heaviest expenditure would be upon 
the first section of 1200 yards, at an estimate of 23,000/., 
the canal being raised by seven locks into Dartmouth 
Lake at an elevation of 70 feet above the level of the sea. 
Thence, with but short exceptions, it would run through 
a connected chain of lakes, into the Shubenacadie (de- 
rived from Shuben, signifying a " river," in the Micmac 
language, and Acadie, the original name of the pro- 
vince), which flows into the Basin of Minas, that great 
reservoir of rivers (receiving the waters of not leaver 
than eleven powerful streams). OvWng to an error in 
judgment the work has entirejy failed, and the canal, 
now under mortgage to Government for 25,000/., is in as 
forlorn a state as the Prince's Lodge. Instead of the 
expenditure being entirely confined to the first section, 
which would have opened a communication with the 
lakes, it was spread out in portions through the whole 
sections, not one of which was completed, the original 
estimate falling far short of the requisite funds; and, all 
attempts to increase the stock proving fruitless, the work 
was laid aside, and the scheme is apparently abandoned. 
The locks are of fine substantial masonry, their bottoms 



128 A subaltern's furlough. 

composed of excellent inverted arches ; but, many of 

them being in an unfinished state, the frost and heavy 

rains are already committing great havoc. It was stated 

that Colonel By, the engineer of the Rideau Canal, had 

lately surveyed the works, and had given in an estimate 

of 75,000/. for the completion ; but here, as in the other 

British provinces, that same sad want of a spirit of enter- 

prise is very apparent ; and the chances are that the 

Shubenacadie Canal will be in statu quo a century hence. 

We had an opportunily while at Halifax of seeing 

some of the provincial militia. They were well equipped 

in every respect, and appeared to take some pride in 

making a soldier-like appearance. They had lately been 

engaged in several sham fights with the garrison, and 

the skirmishing over several miles of rough ground had 

instilled such a martial spirit into them, that they were 

parading voluntarily to perfect themselves in military 

exercise. The province can muster 22,000 infantry, but 

no cavalry as in New Brunswick. 

There is a settlement of negroes a few miles from Ha- 
lifax, at Hammond's Pkiins, the commencement of the 
military road laid out by Sir John Sherbroke, in a direct 
line to Annapolis, through the dense forest, which lessens 
the intermediate distance nearly one-third. Any one 
would have imagined that the Government would have 
taken warning from the trouble and ex[)ense it incurred 
by granting protection to those who emigrated from the 
States during the Revolution, 1200 of whom were re- 
moved to Sierra Leone in 1792 by their ov/n request. 
Again, when 600 of the insurgent negroes, the Maroons 
of Jamaica, were transported to Nova Scotia in 1796, 
and received every possible encouragement to become 
good subjects, by being granted a settlement at Preston, 
and being employed upon the fortifications at Halifax, 
yet they too soon became discontented with the climate, 
and, being unwilling to earn a livelihood by labour, were 
removed in 1800 to the same colony as their predeces- 
sors, after costing the island of Jamaica more than 
45,000/., and a large additional sum to the province. 
Notwithstanding all this, when the runaway slaves were 
received on board the fleet off the Chesapeake during 



A subaltern's furlough. 129 

the late war, permission was granted to them to form a 
settlement at Hammond's Plains, where the same system 
of discontent soon arose. Many of the settlers profess- 
ing they should prefer their former well-fed life of slavery 
in a more congenial climate, and earnestly petitioning to 
be removed, were sent to Trinidad in 1821. Some few 
of those who remained are good servants and farmers, 
disposing of the produce of their lands at the Halifax 
market ; but the majority are idle, roving, and dirty 
vagabonds. In 1827 the population of Nova Scotia was 
123,848, of which number 3000 were negroes. 

After spending ten very agreeable days, we left Halifax 
with regret ; the society and manners of the inhabitants 
are so thoroughly English, from the rapid succession of 
new comers and the gaiety attendant upon a place pos- 
sessing so large a garrison, that a temporary abode there 
for seven or eight years might be comparatively desir- 
able. It was now the latter end of the first week in Oc« 
tober, and the frosts had taken very visible effect upon 
the forests, which for the first time I began to thmk most 
beautiful. The bright and pleasing tints of the various 
trees exceeded any thing 1 had ever seen or could have 
imagined. I had been rather disappointed at the first 
appearance of the American forests, and thought them 
rather insignificant than otherwise ; for, with the excep- 
tion of the stately hemlock, which I should crown queen 
of the grove, they produce no trees which are to be com- 
pared to the wide-spreading, graceful banian of Hindos- 
tan, or the gigantic teak and thingan of Pegu. It is in 
the autumnal months only, when the vast variety of vivid 
tints is brilliant beyond conception, that the American 
forests can outvie those in the land of eternal summer. 
The growth of all the primeval forests through which I 
passed in various parts of the continent, and on the dis- 
puted boundary of New Brunswick, which had never been 
invaded by the woodman's axe, was usually small ; and 
nowhere did I see trees which bore such marks of anti- 
quity as the oaks and yews of England, where 

" the monarch oak 
Three centuries he grows, and three he stays 
Supreme in state, and in three more decays." 



130 A subaltern's furlough. 

Each tree, as it attains its prime, begins to decay, and, 
soon dying, falls prostrate to enrich the soil from which 
it sprung, and the whole surface of the ground is thickly 
furrowed with the small undulations of the decayed 
trunks — the burial-place of their former grandeur. At 
thisjseason, however, it appeared as if some painter, in 
a freak of fancy, had dabbed his brush into all the different 
hues of his colour box, and rubbed each on the paper 
carelessly and thoughtlessly, yet without arrangement 
had produced a most perfect picture. After the first 
sharp frost the maple becomes of a bright crimson ; the 
birch a dull and the walnut a glittering yellow ; the 
sumac a deep pink or damask, and more brilliant than the 
red beech : the oak soon follows with its brown and In- 
dian red. The light green of the willows is pleasingly 
contrasted with the hemlock and pine, which, with the 
evergreens, retain their dark foliage ; and each tree in 
succession assumes an appearance which is entirely un- 
known in our English groves, presenting, 

" as the ranl;s ascend 
Shade above shade, a woody iheatre 
Of stateliest view." 

The hemlock is not a native of the Nova Scotian forests, 
and there is but little oak and cedar, which latter is much 
used in the adjoining province for making trunks, answer- 
ing the same purpose as the Chinese camphor- wood for 
expelling vermin from linen. 

After visiting the Sherbroke Falls, in a deep romantic 
dell, nearly excluded from the rays of the sun, upon the 
pleasing little stream which runs through Kentville, we 
visited the settlement of Cornwallis, and proceeding three 
miles farther, sent in our cards to Mr. Prescott, a gentle, 
man residing on the margin of the Basin of Minas, with 
a request for permission to walk through his gardens. 
He very kindly accompanied us, pointing out the various 
exotics he had introduced into the province, and which 
were in a most thriving state. Apricots, grapes, and 
peaches, were ripening in the open air, and had a most 
delicious flavour, probably heightened by their being the 
first we had tasted since leaving England. The privet 
and quickset hedges, with some acacias, as well as various 



A subaltern's furlough. 131 

European trees, were flourishing as if they were indige- 
nous to the soil, and scarcely any of his numerous expe- 
riments in gardening had failed. His house, which was 
situated between Horton on the opposite side of the Corn- 
wallis River and the great Wellington Dyke, had been 
built on what, tw^enty years previously, was a compara- 
tively barren flat, but, by mixing several thousands of 
loads of the marsh soil with the red sand, he had produced 
a rich and excellent earth. We varied our road on our 
return to Kentville by visiting the Wellington Dyke, 
which was thrown up a few years since at an expense of 
20,000/., and reclaimed 600 acres from the Basin of Mi- 
nas. This fine arm of the sea is so discoloured by mud, 
from the furious violence of the tides, that the marsh 
continues increasing from the great deposits, and enclo- 
sures are made whenever a suflicient quantity will repay 
the vast expense consequent upon an embankment. These 
enclosures were made so far back as the French era, and 
previously to their expulsion from their rich farms, and 
transportation to the back settlements of Mississippi and 
Louisiana, under the pretext of their exciting the Indians 
to acts of hostility against the English and refusing to 
take the oath of allegiance. The dykes, which require 
frequent repairs, had been much daiijaged by the inroads 
of the sea between the intermediate time of the expulsion 
of the rightful owners and the settlement of that part of 
the province by people from the State of Connecticut. 
Previous to the war of 1756, the Acadians exported wheat 
to Boston, but the dyked lands appeared more in use for 
hay and grazing at the period when we visited them. 
The Wellington has produced as fifty bushels of wheat 
to the acre, and is rich enough to bear cropping for a cen- 
tury without manuring. But the dyked lands of Windsor, 
consisting of 2544 acres, are considered the most product- 
ive in the province. Horton, also, contains about 4000 
acres of an excellent quality. Assessments, proportioned 
to the expense of keeping the embankments in repair, are 
made annually on the occupiers ; at the Grand Prairie, 
where there are more than 2000 acres, it amounts to 
about Is. 6d. per acre, but in more exposed situations it 
is somewhat higher. All the rivers flowing into the ba- 



132 A subaltern's furlough. 

sin furnish a vast quantity of this fertile land ; the Canar 
affords 2000 acres, of which the Wellington Dyke is a 
part. The highest part of this embankment is where the 
road crosses the river by means of it, and it is there 
about 40 feet above the level of the water, and 60 in 
width, but on the marsh and level ground it varies from 
12 to 15 feet in thickness, and from 8 to 10 in height. 
Aboiteaux, or sluices, must necessarily be constructed 
across the creeks, with swinging gates for the purpose of 
letting off the floods at ebb and closing at f^ood-tides. 
The upland in this portion of the province is strong and 
rich, but the mountain poor and cold. That which is 
composed of alluvial deposits from rivers and brooks, 
swollen by the rains in the spring and autumn, is in con- 
siderable quantities, and called " intervale," a new-coined 
American term. 

The following morning v/e were on the road again to 
Annapolis, with a learned coachman, who favoured us 
with a dissertation on the pronunciation of French in 
general, and the derivation of many of the Nova Scotian 
names of places from that language. Such as that Cape 
Blow-me-down was corrupted from Blo-mon-dong, which 
he gratuitously taught me to pronounce with the true nasal 
twang, and instilled into me that *' Have-a-chance River," 
which flows into the basin near the above cape, and 
" Knock-me-down Street" in Halifax, were only vulgar 
denominations for what originally bore more dignified 
titles. 



A subaltern's furlough. 133 



CHAPTER X. 

God's benison go with you, and with those 

That would make good of bad, and friends of foes.'' 

Shaks?ear£. 

How calm, how beautiful comes on 
The stilly hour, when storms are gone; 
When warring winds have died away, 
And clouds, beneath the glancing ray, 
Melt off, and leave the land and sea 
Sleeping in bright tranquillity ! 

Moore. 

Neither good Christians nor good arguers. 

Atterbury. 

With feelings consequent on separation from a compa- 
nion whose sentiments so exactly tallied with my own, 
and whose society had made thi?; part of my expedition 
so pleasant, I bade adieu to St. John's on the morning of 
the 10th of October. The weather was in melancholy 
harmony with my feelings ; for when I entered the 
steamer the sky was bright and clear, with a fi'csh south- 
easterly breeze, and only a dark I'ne like that of a bold 
and distant coast to be seen low down upon the horizon; 
this gradually increased to a bank of clouds, its upper 
extremities tinged with yellow by the morning sun, and 
then by degrees approaching us more rapidly, and in 
huge rolling masses, it shortly enveloped us in a dense 
damp fog. The sun, however, gaining the ascendancy, 
gradually broke through thin portions of it with a dazzling 
light, and in forty or fifty minutes the whole was carried 
away to leeward by the heavy and increasing gale. I 
had never before witnessed this, the usual approach of th® 
fog from the banks of Newfoundland. 

After a run of sixty miles along an iron-bound coast, 
we arrived at Eastport, in Maine, one of the United States. 
The approach to it is pretty, the channel winding amongst 
numerous rocky islands within the British lines. There 
is a house upon one of the last of these islands (if a small 

VOL. II. M. 



J34 A subaltern's furlough. 

barren rock, 100 yards in length, deserves such a name) 
which was erected at a great expense by one of the reve- 
nue officers. Midway between it and the town is the 
boundary, an imaginary line running through the centre 
of the river St. Croix and part of Passamaquoddy Bay. 
The first object, which is supereminently apparent from 
the deck of a vessel, is the huge star-spangled banner, 
which, rivalling a ship's topsail in capaciousness, floats 
above the red roof and glaring white walls of the barracks, 
on a rocky hill overlooking the town. The town itself is 
quite an American one, containing 2000 inhabitants and 
four places of public v/orship. The streets as usual are 
regularly laid out as per compass and rule, and most of 
the private houses white as the driven snow. The land- 
ing-place is the most inconvenient that could have been 
devised ; we arrived at low water, and the vessel's deck 
was consequently some twenty feet below the level of the 
quay ; whoever wished to land was therefore under the 
necessity of clambering up a perpendicular, slippery, and 
wet ladder, with staves eighteen inches asunder : even 
one or two of those were missing, so that the scaling of 
it was utterly impracticable for a lady, and a gentleman 
would find it no easy task. There were two parties, the 
ascending and descending, who wished to gain possession 
of it ; a fat, choleric New Brunswicker, who had been 
terribly affected by the gale, volunteered to pioneer the 
way for the rest of us, and by dint of perseverance once 
arrived halfway up the ladder, when he received such a 
thump on his head trom the heavy heel of a porter, who 
was descending with a trunk, that he rejoined us by that 
rapid mode which sailors call "hand over hand," and 
then awaited patiently until the long stream of passengers 
and iheir baggage had reached the quarter-deck in safety. 
As soon as 1 set foot again on the lend of calashes,* 
politics, India-rubber shoes, and vile rocking-chairs, 1 en- 
tered a bookseller's shop, which made a lar greater display 
than any I had seen in Montreal, Quebec, or Halifax, 
supplying not the immediate neighbourhood only, but a 
great part of New Brunswick with literature. The care- 

* Loose bonnets, of a light green or dark blue colour, worn 
by American females. 



A subaltern's furlough. 135 

less, tooth-pick manner, however, so characteristic of his 
countrymen, with which the young gentleman behind the 
counter, with a forage cap set carelessly on one side of 
his head, answered one or two of my questions, and then 
walked away to make his dog open the door for the amuse- 
ment of some children, was quite sufficient to disgust any 
mail who might entertain even more charitable opinions 
of the Americans than myself. He was doubtless aware 
that I had just landed from the British provinces, and so 
thought fit to treat me with what he considered a specimen 
of republican sang froid. I observed that there was a 
more bitter feeling existing between the two nations along 
the whole extent of frontier than in the interior of the 
two countries, though nearly one-third of the inhabitants 
on each side of the boundary line made a livelihood by 
carrying on a smuggling trade with the other. If loyalty 
to England consists in hatred to America, I would then 
give the Canadians, and the borderers of New Bruns- 
wick, the full credit of being superabundantly supplied 
with that very excellent quality. 

The town, which was taken by the British and kept in 
possession during the last war (the principal American 
trade during that period being carried on at Lubec, a few 
miles distant on the main land,) is situated upon the 
southern end of Moose Island, four miles in length, and 
connected with the continent by a bridge at the northern 
extremity. The harbour is an extensive and safe one, 
extending many miles up Passamaquoddy Bay, and land- 
locked by the numerous islands. Some salt works have 
been established near the town, and conducted so as to 
evade much of the duty by importing the mineral from 
England, via St. John, and boiling it in the States, the 
duty upon the coarse mineral being comparatively small 
to that upon English salt. There is also a foundry for 
the melting of scrap or old iron, conducted upon some- 
what similar principles. 

Neither sailing-packet nor coach departing for the 
south-west during the ensuing twenty-four hours, I pro- 
ceeded in the steamer to St. Andrews, a sea-port of con- 
siderable importance on a peninsula of New Brunswick 
thirteen miles from Eastport. The scenery up the bay is 



136 A subaltern's furlough. 

fine and bold, the Shamcook Hill rising in rear of the 
town to the height of 1100 feet, the only paper-mill in 
the province being situated upon the small river which 
flows near it, and bears the same name. When we ar- 
rived within two miles of the town, the tide was half ebb, 
and, the night being stormy and dark, the steamer ran 
its keel deep into the mud. After remaining there suffi- 
ciently long to exhaust all our stock of patience, we took 
to the boat, and, landing upon the beach near a light-house, 
sought our way, drenched with rain, and covered with 
mud, to the hotel. The light-house (lucus a non lucendo 
again !) shows no light, the establishment necessary for 
trimming lamps, watching, &c. putting the third port in 
New Brunswick to the expense of 30Z. per annum, which 
was deemed too extravagant a sum for the benefit of 300 
inward and outward bound sail annually, was accordingly 
reduced, the light being removed to another situation, 
300 yards from the point against which it is intended to 
warn mariners. The present beacon is merely a common 
lantern placed in a pigeon-box bow-window, protruding 
from the second story of a house, where its dim rays are 
exhibited at an annual contract of 15/., though it can 
barely be distinguished from the light in any other win- 
dow in the town. 

The steamer had reached her customary anchorage 
ground during the night, but was high and dry at the 
usual time for sailing, having drifted from her anchors 
by the heavy gale. The rain still continuing to pour 
down, I resolved to return by water to Eastport, in pre- 
ference to taking the American coach from Robbinstown, 
opposite to St. Andrew's ; and, having a few hours to 
spare, I walked through the town despite of the storm. It 
is one of the neatest in the provinces, contains from 1500 
to 1800 inhabitants, and has a considerable trade with 
the West Indies. As the name would almost imply, the 
population is chiefly of Scottish descent, but the influen- 
tial people of every class were absent at Fredericton, 
subpcened as witnesses in a trial of libel upon a revenue 
officer by the editor of a newspaper. 

While busily engaged in taking a sketch the morning 
after my return to Eastport, the blue Peter and loosened 



A subaltern's furlough. 137 

topsail of the Portland packet by chance caught my eye. 
Leaping fence and ditch, I soon gained the inn, where I 
found the landlord busthng about in sad distress at my 
absence, the Captain having already sent twice in search 
of me. In a few minutes more I was on board the 
*' Boundary" schooner of 150 tons, with 45 passengers, 
and seventeen of that number in the small cabin. Our 
skipper was a hale, weather-beaten, healthy-looking 
sailor, a native of New Brunswick, but a naturalized 
A.merican, so that he might be qualified to command the 
vessel. He was quite an oddity in his way ; I asked him 
one evening, for want of something better to talk about, 
when I came upon deck, whether he thought we should 
have any more wind during the night. " I shall be 
able to tell you more about it in the morning," v/as his 
gruff reply. In less than five minutes a lady tottered up 
the hatchway. " Will it rain. Captain ?" " You had 
better apply to the clerk of the weather, ma'am ; he's 
able to tell you more about it than I," said the rough old 
tar. Standing out of the bay by Grand Manan Isle, we 
found a heavy head swell upon the sea from the gale of 
the preceding days, which caused the usual commotion 
amongst the fresh-water sailors. Our little vessel, how. 
ever, cut her way gallantly through it until the second 
day, when, the weather moderating, she glided gracefully 
and smoothly upon her course. All the passengers were 
again alive ; the gentlemen congregated in the cabin, 
discussing the well-worn and hackneyed subject of poli- 
tics, and the merits of the several candidates for the presi- 
dential chair. Jackson, Clay, and Wirt, were in turn 
abused, and, the morals of all being called into question, 
the argument somehow or other branched off at a tan- 
gent, and, settling down into one upon religion, continued 
with but little intermission for ten hours, and was re- 
sumed with as much vigour the following day. All the 
disputants were very conversant with the Scriptures, but 
I was so uncharitable as to doubt whether such know- 
ledge had not been acquired more for the sake of religious 
discussion than through any pure religious feeling. As 
were their tenets, so were their scriptural readings, varied 
and numerous ; the pros and cons followed in rapid suc- 



138 A subaltern's furlough. 

cession, and apt quotations were at every one's fingers' 
ends. The ladies, in number five or six, most of whom 
were young and pretty, passed the evening with their 
cabin door open, singing with good voices, in fiill chorus 
"the Death of Sir John Moore," " L-a-w, Law," and 
several English and Scotch ballads. Their stock being 
exhausted in an hour or so, like the gentlemen in the 
morning, they were then 

" seised with a religious qualm, 
And on a sudden sung the hundredth psalm," 

in which one gentleman attempted to join them, his voice 
chiming in at intervals, ever a bar in rear or advance of 
the rest, with a most inetiable twang, producing a sound 
approaching nearer to that of a cracked trumpet at a 
puppet-show than any thing I can imagine. The remain- 
ing nine gentlemen, proof against the charms of the sy- 
rens, were arguing the merits of various kinds of tooth 
picks ; whether metallic, goose-quills, pins, chips Of 
wood, or the point of a jack-knife, were the best; after a 
warm dissertation upon so interesting a subject, the palm 
was awarded to the chips of wood, the singing gentleman, 
with an upper row (by his own acknowledgment) of false 
teeth in his head, vowing he would *' give 1000 dollars 
for a handsome set." 

On Sunday, the 14th of October, we were ofi* Manegin 
Isle, the scene of action between the " Boxer" and " En- 
terprise" in 1813; and the passengers, having requested 
a Nova Scotian Calvinistic preacher to favour us with a 
discourse, had all assembled upon the flour barrels with 
which the deck was covered. A heavy squall coming 
on, when every one was wrapt in deep attention, nearly 
thiew the schooner upon its beam ends, and dispersed the 
meeting in a most unceremonious manner ; some rolling 
away to leeward, and others down the companion ladder, 
did not make their appearance again until we arrived in 
port. The wind freshened to a stiff gale off-shore to- 
wards sunset, and rather unfavourable for making Port- 
land Harbour, where the Captain intended touching to 
land a part of the passengers, including myself; but the 
others, who were bound for Boston, ascertaining that it 
was a fair wind for that port, proposed carrying us there 



A subaltern's furlough. 139* 

and defraying our expenses back to Portland. All agreed 
to this arrangement excepting myself, who would not 
consent to being taken a circuitous route of 200 miles 
when the vessel was within three miles of its destined 
port, and merely to please a party of people to whom 
time was an object of no importance, and who would not 
put themselves to the slight inconvenience of a few hours' 
delay to please me. After holding on for about an hour, 
and perceiving that the general opinion must be that I 
was both obstinate and unaccommodating, I relented, 
and agreed to proceed to Boston ; but, when the depu- 
tation applied to the rough old seaman, he answered, to 
my infinite satisfaction, that " he had never sailed for 
Portland without mtd^ing it.'' The wind however -haul- 
ing still more a-head, and a short high sea rising, into 
which the schooner plunged so heavily that she could 
only carry the foresail, while she made as much lee as 
head-way, the old skipper was reluctantly obliged, two 
hours before midnight, to bear up for Boston. Running 
along the coast, in sight of numerous light-houses (there 
being seventeen in a hundred miles,) in nine hours we 
entered Boston Bay, after a long passage of three days 
from Eastport. 

Having seen all the lions during my previous visit, 
there was nothing to detain me beyond one day, which I 
passed in strolling about the city. Washington's statue 
was encircled as filthily as ever, and the city guards were 
marching about as before in their strange half cavalry 
half infantry uniform. One novelty there was, — the 
Tremont Theatre was open, and I attended to witness 
Waliack's performance in the "Brigand" and "Rent 
Day." The last time I had seen the former, was in the 
Amateur Theatre at Calcutta, where the characters, with 
the exception of that performed by the " Star" of the 
night, were much better sustained, and the scenic arrange- 
ments altogether superior. There were many incongru- 
ities, such as a young man apparently twenty. five years 
of age, dressed as a dandified ruffian, talking of his ac- 
quaintance with the old Steward twenty seven years 
before. I never saw the character of an English peasant 
properly dressed or personated by an American actor. 



140 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 

Of our yeomen they make idiots, and of our servants inso- 
lent clowns. When a talented performer appears upon 
the American boards, he shines alone, unsupported, and 
the piece goes off dull and irksome during his absence 
from the stage. Greater support is certainly given to the 
drama in America than in England, and still it can boast 
but of one or two able native performers. Some of the 
scenery, from the brush of a Mr. Jones, possessed consid- 
erable merit, and I thought the interior of the house supe- 
rior even to those of New York and Philadelphia. The 
ladies, of whom there was a very large attendance, paid 
a complimentary tribute to Mr. Waliack's excellent act- 
ing by displaying a long hne of white handkerchiefs, which 
were constantly applied to their eyes ; but the male part 
of the audience showed no outward and visible signs of 
approval, and an Englishman entering the house at the 
close of some beautiful scene would have almost imagined 
that it met with their disapprobation. Walking into the 
capacious and finely carpeted saloon, I read a notice over 
the door, " respectfully requesting gentlemen not to wear 
their hats in it." Mine was in my hand immediately, but 
not seeing an other individual of the sixty or seventy per- 
sons who were present conforming to the rule, 1 resumed 
mine forthwith, for the sake of uniformity. 

Early the following morning I passed through Stone- 
ham and Reading ; and walking on as was m> custom, in 
hopes of seeing something worth sketching, while they 
"shifted horses," I fell in company with a man who was 
proceeding in the same direction. After answering his 
queries, whence I came, whither I was bound, and passing 
a few cursory remarks upon the cholera and the weather, 
I cross-examined him with regard to the quality of the 
soil, and what kind of a harvest had been gathered during 
my absence. One of his answers was unique and des- 
criptive. " Why, sir, turn a goose into a ten acre lot of 
it at spring, and it will come out at fall thinner than it 
went in ; it could not get its bill between the stones to 
pick up the grasshoppers, and there are plenty of ^Acm." 
The country certainly did not promise much, but the 
apple trees were weighed to the ground with the over 
powering load of fruit. We crossed the rapid and shallow 



A subaltern's furlough. 141 

stream of the Merrimac, nearly 200 yards in width, three 
miles beyond Andover, where there are the fine buildings 
of an extensively patronized theological seminary. At 
the village of Methuen, seven miles farther, I walked to 
view some falls on the Spicket Creek during the time the 
letters were sorting, and was well punished for breaking 
the vows I had made not to look at any thing in the shape 
of a cataract for another twelvemonth, so surfeited had I 
been with them. Upon a moderate calculation, about a 
hatfull per minute contrived to escape over a rocky ledge 
thirty feet in height, from a dam which diverted the main 
body of the stream to two large grist mills. 

We had six-in-hand throughout our journey over tole- 
rably good roads, with a light load, and I never saw men 
more expert at their business than coachmen on the 260 
miles road between Boston and Burlington. Jt was ra- 
ther amusing to witness the manner in which they restrain- 
ed the horses when descending a steep hill, wrapping the 
reins of the leaders round their arms up to the elbows, 
using their feet to those of the wheelers, and then, lean- 
ing back on their seat, with the whip thrown upon the 
roof of the coach, they tugged away with both hand and 
foot. 

By sunset we arrived at Concord, the capital of New 
Hampshire, situated upon a light sandy soil on the west- 
ern bank of the Merrimac, which is navigable for boats 
to Sewall's Falls, a few miles higher. The town, con- 
taining about 2000 inhabitants and five churches, consists 
of two streets running north and south, each more than a 
hundred feet wide, and a mile in length, with a row of 
large drooping elms on each side. The houses are of a 
pretty style of architecture, with double verandahs sup- 
ported by light colonnades, and may vie with those of 
Northampton on the Connecticut River. The State 
House, a fine granite building with two wings, the roof 
surmounted by a hght tower, dome, and globe, with a pro- 
digious golden eagle to crown all, is situated in the cen- 
tre of a grass square 155 by 100 paces, with iron railing 
in front and rear. I never entered one of the State Cap- 
itals but I found some additions or alterations making in 
the prisons, and, though not a Howard, I generally pryed 



142 A subaltern's furlough. 

into all. The Americans have an excellent system of 
admiting visitors to these institutions, upon payment of a 
trifling sum, usually a shilling sterling, which is sufficient 
to keep away mere idlers, the incurious, and the old ac- 
complices of the prisoners, and to produce an income 
from which salaries are allowed to extra keepers, whose 
time is occupied in attendance upon visitors In the Con- 
cord prison, sixty males (five of them for life) were con- 
fined, and one female, who, according to the keeper's ac- 
count, was a more troublesome and mutinous subject than 
all the rest together. It was conducted partly on the 
Auburn system, but fell far short of it in interior econo- 
my and indeed in every other respect : the shops, cells, 
and kitchen were not equally clean, nor were the priso- 
ners under the same discipline and good management. 
When at work, the prisoners are allowed to converse 
upon subjects connected with their trade, the keeper 
acknowledging it would be an improvement if total silence 
could be insisted upon, but stating that some communica- 
tion between them was indispensable (at Auburn however, 
it is not permitted). The articles which they manufac- 
ture are not disposed of according to contract, but by the 
warden, with the same injurious effects to the industrious 
artisans in the neighbourhood as at Auburn. The trades- 
were few, being shoe makers, blacksmiths, carriage ma- 
kers, and stone masons: these latter were employed in 
erecting an additional wing to the prison, to contain three 
tiers, or 120 of the honey-comb cells in use at Auburn. 
Heretofore, from two to eight prisoners have been confined 
during the night in a large, badly ventilated cell, with a 
solid iron door, and a narrow loop hole to admit a breath 
of air and ray of light. This free intercourse in their 
cells has been the cause of several attempts to regain 
their liberty. The use of the lash has not been intro- 
duced, the refractory being punished by soHtary confine- 
ment ; but, when the latter is adopted to the extent of 
the Auburn system, it is difficult to see how the former 
can be dispensed with, or, if so, what will be the means 
used to keep up the necessary discipline. 

From Concord we waded, on the 18th of October? 
through 18 miles of white sand, to breakfast at the village 



A subaltern's furlough 143 

of Sandbornton, leaving the Shaker settlement at Canter- 
bury three or four miles to the right. Some of the houses 
were similar to many I had observed in the British pro- 
vinces, being built without any foundation, and merely 
resting like a large box upon the levelled ground, or on a 
piece of rock at each angle, and, from all appearances, 
very liable to be blown over by the first heavy gale. 
Such a fate had befallen one I saw in Nova Scotia, which 
was literally topsey turvey. The road was carried over 
the apex of every sugar-loaf hill between the manufac- 
turing town of Meredith and Centre Harbour upon Lake 
Winnipiseogee, when a circuit of half a mile would have 
taken it upon nearly a dead level. The latter village is 
situated at the western end of this lake with the long 
name The sheet of water is twenty three miles in 
length, and varies from two to five in width, and is so 
studded with islands as to warrant the assertion of the 
country people that there are as many as there are days 
in the year. The dominion of the sovereign of some of 
tliem would not however extend over more than five square 
feet of solid rock, nine inches above the surface of the 
water. A steamer was upon the stocks, intended for the 
navigation of the lake; and it was in contemplation to 
form an inland communication with the tide waters and 
Connecticut River, by Squam Lake, two mile's to the north 
west, Baker's River, and a chain of ponds. It is 472 feet 
above the surface of the Atlantic, and 272 above the 
Merrimac, at the junction of their waters. A magnificent 
view is said to be afforded from the summit of Red Hill, 
1500 feet in height, three miles from Winnipiseogee, but 
the scenery was too wooded and had too great a same- 
ness for my taste. The road circled round the base of 
the hill, which appeared at a distance, with the sun shining 
upon it, like burning lava, so brilliant were the autumnal 
tints of the trees. Dense forests of pine stretched far 
away upon every side and at the base of the Sandwich 
mountains, 3000 feet in height, whose summits were tliick- 
ly enveloped in clouds. The narrow stream of the Bear 
Camp, with which the road ran parallel, was choaked up 
with masses of timber which had been cut the preceding 
winter, and floating down towards the Saco, had been 



144 A subaltern's furlough. 

left by the falling of the waters. In many places, for 
the distance of a quarter of a mile, we could not obtain 
a glimpse of the stream, such a perfect and solid bridge 
had been formed over it by the logs. 

Heavy rain set in at sunset, and, to add to our misfor- 
tunes, we were detained two hours at a small inn near 
Tamworth for the Dover coach, which brought an addi- 
tion of a fat gentleman, who, weighing at least twenty 
stone, occupied a third of the interior of the two horse 
vehicle in which we were to proceed. AVhen our coach- 
man saw his new passenger squeezing himself edge-ways 
out of his late conveyance, he exclaimed with a shrug of 
his shoulders, in great astonishment and alarm, *' My eye ! 
a'int he a burster ? it might well be late ; we shan't see 
the end of our journey this night." Preferring exposure 
to the rain to being crushed to a mummy with five insides 
upon two seats, I took my place with the coachman, who 
found it no easy task to steer us safely between the large 
stumps which lined the narrow opening, misnamed a road, 
through the forests of Norway pine. The darkness of 
the night w£is rendered more gloomy by the thick foliage 
of the trees , so, v^^hile the coachman attended to the in- 
tricate navigation, he requested me to " fix" the lamps, 
the oil and wick being of so bad a quality as to fully oc- 
cupy me in trimming and snufliing throughout thirteen 
most dreary miles. After twice breaking dov/n, both of 
which accidents were placed to the credit of the fat man 
and his carpet bags, we succeeded in reaching Conway, 
seventy-three miles from Concord, by half-past nine o'- 
clock, after a fatiguing and rough journey of eighteen 
hours. 



A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH, 



CHAPTER XL 

Has nature this rough naked piece designed 
To hold inhabitants of mortal kind ? 



145 



Savage. 



And from the hideous crash distracted flies 
Like one who hears his dying infant's cries, 
Near, and more near, the rushing torrents sound, 
And one great rift runs through the vast pi'ofound, 
Swift as a shooting meteor, groaning loud, 
Like deep-rolled thunder through a rending cloud. 

Ibid. 

The year was now so fast upon the wane, the days 
shortening, and the weather so intensely cold, that it re- 
quired no small stock of resolution to enable one to desert 
a warm bed at a quarter to three in the morning, and en- 
counter a keen north-wester. In four hours we arrived 
at Bartlett, sixteen miles from Conway, when I walked 
out with my sketch-book while breakfast was preparing, 
for the purpose of attempting an outline of the fine moun- 
tain scenery, but could not command my pencil, and 
soon found my way back shivering to the house, where 1 
esconced myself in a corner by the bright kitchen fire until 
the coach was once more ready to start. We were now 
hemmed in by lofty mountains, between which the road 
wound, preserving a level along the right bank of the Saco, 
a strong mountain torrent, which, notwithstanding the en- 
croachments made upon it with strong embankments, on- 
ly allowed sufficient space for a single carriage to pass in 
many places between the rocky barrier on the one hand 
and its impetuous waters, a considerable depth beneath, 
on the other. Numerous broad water-courses, which bore 
the marks of great periodical inundations When they are 
swollen to gigantic rivers, descend to it from the moun- 
tains' tops, being, as a gentleman who was by chance my 
fellow-passenger with great pathos expressed it, "as the 
veins and sinews to the human constitution." All vestiges 
of cultivation ceased from Bartlett until the seventh mile, 
when we arrived at a small farm in a solitary but pretty 
spot, which had been nearly carried away by the floods 

VOL II. N. 



146 A subaltern's furlough. 

six years previously, with a loss of land of the value of 
2000 dollars to the proprietor. Another hour's drive 
broug"ht us to the Notch of the White Mountains, when 
I alighted from the coach with a request that my baggage 
should be left at an inn eight miles farther, and sat down 
by the road side to admire the awfully grand and sublime 
spectacle which the Notch presents. 

The day which had been so cloudly and cold in the 
early part became more favourable, and the sun darted its 
invigorating raj^s through the clouds, resting on the sum- 
mit of the bleak and precipitous rocks with which the val- 
ley is bounded. By degrees the light vapours arose, 
melting into air, or floating away gracefully and majes- 
tically, and laid open a scene which vv/^ould defy the pen- 
cil of any artist to delineate faithfully. The Notch, as 
the term implies, is a narrow pass, six miles* in length, at 
the southern end of the White Mountains, the loftiest of 
which, Mount Washington, is 6234 feet above the level 
of the sea ; but on each side of the pass they rise only from 
1800 to 2000, at an angle of about 45", forming a valley 
less than half a mile in width between their bases, and 
down which the roaring Saco takes its course. The whole 
extent of their front is furrowed and scarred by the tre- 
mendous storm of July, 1826; and the valley, choked up 
with trees uptorn by the roots, remnants of bridges, build- 
ings, and huge masses of rock piled upon each other in 
th^ greatest disorder, presents what might be almost ima- 
gined as the wreck of nature. A melancholy and inter- 
esting story is connected with this storm, which will for 
years to copie be the cause of thousands making a pil- 
grimage to the White Mountains. J. give it as related to 
me by one who, though not an eye-witness, v/as in the 
immediate vicinity at the time it occured; it ^vas as fol- 
lows: — A farmer of the name of Willey, with his wife, 
five children, and two labourers, occupied a house with 
a small farm at the upper end of the valley. They were 
much esteemed for their hospitable attentions to travellers, 
who overtaken by night, sought shelter at their hearth, 
which was the only one in the Notch, their nearest neigh- 
bours being at the farm aforementioned, six miles distant. 
The hills at that time were thickly overgrown with forest- 



A subaltern's fuhlough. 147 

trees and shrubs ; nor had any thing- ever occurred to 
make them suspicious of the safetjr of their position, un- 
til the descent of a small avalanche, or slide of earth, near 
the house in the month of June, 1826, so terrified them by 
the havoc it caused, that they erected a small camp in what 
they deemed a more secure place, half a mile lower down 
the Saco. The summer had been unusually dry until the 
beginning" of July, Avhen the clouds collecting- about the 
mountains poured forth their waters as though the flood- 
gates of the heavens were opened, the wind blew in most 
terrific hurricanes, and continued with unabated violence 
for several days. On the night of the 26th of the month, 
the tempest increased to a fearful extent, the lightning 
flashed so vividly, accompanied by such awful howling 
of wind and roaring of thunder, that the peasantry ima- 
gined the day of judgment was at hand. At break of 
day on the 27th, the lofty mountains were seamed with 
the numerous avalanches which had descended during* 
the night. Ever}'- one felt anxious respecting the safety 
of the family in the valley, but some days elapsed before 
the river subsided so far from its e^ttraordinary height as 
to allow any inquiries to be made. A peasant swimming 
his horse across an eddy was the first person who enter- 
ed the Notch, when the terrible spectable of the entire 
face of the hills having descended in a body presented it- 
self The Willeys' house, which remained untouched 
amidst the vast chaos, did not contain any portion of the 
family, whose bodies, after a search of some da3-s, with 
the exception of two children, were discovered buried 
under some drift-wood within 200 yards of the door, the 
hands of Miss Willey and a labourer grasping the same 
fragment. They had all evidenth^ retired to rest, and 
most probably, alarmed by the sound of an avalanche, had 
rushed out of the house, when they were swept away by 
the overwhelminsf torrent of earth, trees, and water The 
most miraculous fact is that the avalanche, descending 
with the vast impetuosity an abrupt declivity of 1500 feet 
would give it, approached within four feet of the house, 
when suddently dividing, it swept round, and, carrying 
away an adjoining stable with some horses, it again form- 
ed a junction within a few yards of the front. A flock 



148 A subaltern's furlough. 

of sheep which had sought shelter under the lee of the^ 
house were saved ; but the family had fled from the only 
spot where any safety could have been found, every other 
part of the valley being buried to the depth of several feet, 
and their camp overwhelmed by the largest avalanche 
which fell. A person standing m rear of the house can 
now with ease step upon the roof, the earth forming such 
a perpendicular and solid wall. 

A small avalanche was seen descending from one of the 
mountains some days after the above occurrence. The 
thick pine forest at first moved steadily along in its up- 
right position, but soon began to totter in its descent, and. 
fell headlong down with redoubled fury and violence, fol- 
lowed by rivers of floating earth and stones, which spread 
over the plain, carrying devastation far and wide. The 
long heat of summer had so dried and cracked the ground 
that the subsequent rains found easy admission under the 
roots of trees, which, loosened by the violence of the wind, 
required but little to set the whole in motion. There was 
no tradition of a similar descent having ever taken place ; 
but, upon a close examination, traces of one which had 
eridentlj occurred more than a century before could be 
discovered amongst the forest. * 

A chance stone rolling down the mountain's side, and 
a partridge starting up from under my feet during the 
time I was occupied in sketching, brought an unvoluntaiT 
shudder over my limbs, and the very idea of an avalanche 
descending and interring me alive caused me to hurry 
through my work and pursue my progress out of the 
lonely valley. The ground ascends gradually to the gap, 
which is twenty feet wide, between lofty barriers of solid 
rock, the Saco and road both passing through this space, 
which was widened by blasting twenty-two years since. 
Previous to that time the road passed over the summit of 
the rocks, at so precipitous a pitch that the farmers were 
obliged to carry their produce on its way to Portland over 
that part of the road themselves, assisting their horses by 
means of ropes and the bridle up the ascent. A new 
sleigh, formed of two young pine-trees, in a few minutes 
enabled them to pursue their journey. The Saco rises in 
a small flat opposite T. Crawford's inn, half a mile far- 



A subaltern's furlough. 149 

tber, from which to E. Crawford's, where I found my 
bag-gage, was four miles through an almost impenetrable 
forest. 

There being no other visitors at this late season, my 
evenings were passed by the fire-side in listening to my 
host's lengthy stories about hunting the cariboo, moose, 
deer, bears, and partridges, with which the mountains 
abound, and which he went in pursuit of with a gun of 
four feet barrel; or in sympathizing with him in his dis- 
tress at what he considered his sole property being poach- 
ed upon by no less a person than the proprietor of a rival 
hotel, which was opened within three-quarters of a mile, 
and, displaying a gaily painted sign of a lion (like a 
snarling cur) and an eagle, looking unutterable things at 
each other from opposite sides of the globe, had already 
attracted numerous guests. Mine host stated the merits 
of his case with great eloquence, and, from his having 
been the original guide, surveyor, and maker of the road 
up the mountain, he had some right to look upon the new 
comer in the light of an interloper. The spirit of rivalry 
had, however, proved of some service, having incited him 
to m.ake considerable additions to his own house, all of 
which Were run up with true American expedition. The 
white pine was growing in the forest in January, and in 
June formed an inhabited house, the planks, which coit 
only five dollars per thousand, being kiln-dried as soon 
as they came from the saw-mill. 

After waiting most patiently two days for the clouds to 
clear off, and afford me a sight of the lofty mountains, I 
resolved to take my departure the following morning, with- 
out attaining the grand object of my journey. Upon 
awaking on the 21st of October, after a violent stormy 
night, I found the window of my room thickly encrusted 
with frost. In an instant I sprang out of bed, and, seeing 
a clear blue sky, hurried on my dress, tumbled down stairs 
head foremost, minus hat, stock, and boots, but with pen- 
cils, paper, rubber, and board in hand, and throwing back 
the door of the house, rushed into the open air to seize 
the long-wished-for sketch, when, lo and behold! thick 
dark clouds hung more heavily about the mountain's brow 
than even on the preceding days. The wind, too, cut 

N* 



150 A subaltern's furlough, 

like a razor (that of the briny gods upon the equator, I 
mean,) so I darted up stairs again into my berth, and, 
burying my head under the clothes, blamed myself for 
not having selected a room which had one window at least 
towards the mountains. My host, however, consoled me 
at breakfast with the news that the wind was blowing the 
clouds away, and that my wishes would be gratified in the 
course of the day ; but, upon my proposing to ascend 
Mount Washington, which was thickly covered with snow, 
the guide said that " he would not go up for a five-dollar 
bill, for that it would require two men to hold my hat on." 
I therefore satisfied my climbing propensity for that day 
by ascending Mount Deception, which is well named, and 
affords ample fatigue for unambitious travellers. The 
prospect that the ensuing day would bring more moderate 
weather induced me to prolong my stay for the purpose 
of ascending the loftiest. 

Mount Washington is nearly in the centre of a con- 
tinued range running from north to south, each of which, 
is named after the presidents of the United States in suc- 
cession : but, as usual, one political party of the people- 
will not consent to General Jackson's name being aggran- 
dized or immortalized in the range of White Mountains 
The height of the principal of this chain above the waters 
of the Connecticut River at Lancaster, 300 miles from the 
sea, is as folio v^s ; Washington, 5849 feet ; Adams, 5882; 
Jefferson, 5280; Madison, 5038; Monroe, 4931 ; auincy, 
4470 ; Pleasant, or Jackson, 4338. T. Crawford's houso 
is 635 higher than the Willeys', and 345 higher than 
E. Crawford's, which is 1069 feet above the Connecticut. 
Avalanches have descended from all the summits, and 
continued for a great distance along the level ground, the 
largest (which is from Mount Jackson) being upwards of 
four miles in lenofth. 

At half-past four, on the morning of the 22d of Octo- 
ber, I set oft' in company with a guide for the foot of 
Mount Washington, leaving the selection of the road to 
luy steed, which, having served a long apprenticeship, car- 
ried me safely through the Huckleberry swamps and 
forest for six miles. We were detained a few minutes by 
some windfalls, which the guide cleared away with his 



A subaltern's furlough. 151 

axe ; and after fording two small creeks, and the broad 
bed of the Ammonoosuck River four different times, we 
arrired at a place where the road being impassable for 
horses, we tied them to a tree and commenced the ascent. 
The guide favoured me with brief advice upon the thesis 
of" Festina lente," and, profiting by his hint of not com- 
mencing the journey at too rapid a pace, I led the way 
up a rough and steep path, which admitted of our walk- 
ing only in Indian file. It became excessively precipi- 
tous at Jacob's Ladder, 100 feet in height, which is 
formed of smooth angular stones, and could not be ascend- 
ed except by assistance from the roots of neighbouring 
trees. The lower part of the mountain was covered with 
deep moss and forest, which diminished in growth as we 
ascended; the beach and mountain-ash gave way to spruce, 
which dwindled at every step, and at the cape of a long 
projecting ridge called the " Camel's Rump," it did not 
grow more than six inches high, the branches shooting 
out in long horizontal fibres, inclined towards the base, 
as if seeking shelter from the strong gusts of wind which 
sweep down the mountain's side. At Table Rock, two 
miles from the base, all vegetation ceased, excepting a few- 
occasional patches of cranberries and coarse grass, which, 
half a mile farther, gave place to sharp glittering frag- 
ments of rock, partly overgrown with grey moss. All 
natural landmarks ceasing, small fragments of loose 
stones have been erected for the guidance of people 
who may be enveloped in the clouds. After climbing 
up one or two steep pitches, we gained the summit at a 
quarter past eight, having been an hour and three- 
quarters in the performance of three miles from the base. 
The view from it is most extensive, nearly one hundred 
mountain tops rising beneath the feet like the billowy 
swellings of the ocean; but it did not, I must confess, 
altogether answer my expectations, nor, to my taste, was 
it equal to that from Mount Holyoke, where all was 
richness and life. Here was an unvaried view of moun- 
tain and dale alike covered with forest, the small settle- 
ments but indistinctly visible from such an altitude, and 
scarcely relieving so dark a mass. The course of the 
rapid Connecticut was marked out by the light morning 



152 A subaltbrn's fvrlotjgh. 

mist floating over it ; the green mountains of Vermont 
were visible eighty miles' distant in the west ; and a 
long streak of light, far away upon the eastern horizon, 
appeared to point out the waters of the broad Atlantic ; 
but the sun shining brightly upon the surface of the va- 
pours in the valleys rendered appearances so deceptive 
that it was difficult to distinguish between them and the 
numerous lakes with which that portion of the country 
abounds. 

The summits of all the White Mountains, excepting 
that of Washington, which has a short flat ridge with a 
slight peak at each end, are rounded off, and composed 
of loose fragments of granite, which, at the distance of 
some miles, assumes the white appearance from which 
they take their name. The intense heat of the American 
summer usually thaws the snow upon them by the end 
of August, but this year it was found, during that month 
nearly ten feet deep in the ravines upon the eastern side, 
and for several days had again covered the last mile of 
the ascent with a fresh coat. The walk had so heated 
' me that when I sat down on the cold rock, to partake of 
our bread and cheese breakfast, with ice in lieu of water 
(the springs being frozen,) the keen air almost made my 
blood, which had been accustomed to warmer climes, 
freeze in my veins, the thermometer standing three de- 
grees below the freezing point at nine o'clock, with a 
cloudless sky. The Ammonoosuck River, rising in a 
small pond between the summits of Washington and 
Madison, rushes down the declivity for 4000 feet, with 
a tumultuous uproar, and, taking its course past E. Craw- 
ford's house, flows into the Connecticut a few miles below 
Bath. 

I found the descent more difficult, though more rapid, 
than the ascent, my feet slipping from under me several 
times upon the icy surface, and causing me to shoot far- 
ther a-head than my own free-will would have dictated 
The guides have a great source of profit in the beavers 
with which the mountains abound, each skin producing 
a dollar. They take many hundreds of them in the 
autumn, by means of traps composed of a larch tree, 
with a transverse one upon it, set along the sides of the 



A subaltern's furlough. 153 

path at forty yards' distance from each other, and baited 
with meat. In two hours we gained the hotel nine miles 
from the summit, and taking one of the common dear- 
borns or wagons which was passing a few minutes after, 
and perfoimed the duty of the mail in those rough roads[ 
I proceeded thirteen miles through an uninhabited dis- 
trict to Bethlehem, the settlement of some new religious 
sect, and arrived at Littleton the same evening. 



154 A subaltern's furlough, 

CHAPTER XIL 

I had as lief be a Brownist as a politician. 



Shakspea-RE. 



Once more upon the -waters ! yet once more ! 

And the waves bound beneath me as a steed 

That knows his rider— w-elcome to their roar ! 

Swift be their guidance. ^ 

Byron. 

My native isle, lov'd Albion. 



SOTHEBT. 



.... the natural atmosphere, 
Extremely wholesome, though but rarely clear. 



Byron. 



The 23d, from sunrise to sunset, was cold and rainy; 
and the small village of Littleton, with its streams and 
streets blocked up with rafts and piles of timber, present^ 
ing no inducement to move out, my morning was passed 
away in flattering the landlady's vanity, at the expense 
of my own taste, by praising a wretched daub (evidently 
the handiwork of some sign-painter) intended as a repre- 
sentation of her pretty daughter, and afterwards discuss- 
ing state affairs with a weather-bound American tra- 
veller, who had settled it much to his own satisfaction, 
notwithstanding all my assertions to the contrary, that he 
was addressing a colonel high in command in the British 
army. No one upon earth, save a Yankee, could have 
discovered that I even held a commission of any degree ; 
but he possesses a kind of sleight-of-hand method of un- 
dermining and grubbing out news. " Well but, Kernel, 
you are taking minutes, and intend publishing, I calc'late? 
You can prepare your sketches for the type?" " Well 
now, I declare there is Ethan Crawford's and the White 
Mountains ! a'int it so ?" I thought the man must be a 
decided quiz, and resolved that he should not have all the 
sport to himself, so gave him a story or two, about th« 
truth of which I wished him to be rather sceptical, of the 



A subaltern's furlough. 155 

fingernails of the East Indian devotees growing through 
back of their hands — the burning of widows— a banian- 
tree covering several acres of land — the Arab horses eating 
sheeps' heads, and a long string of similar marvellous 
but daily occurrences. At the onset his countenance 
assumed a stare of the greatest admiration and astonish- 
ment ; but when I brought the sheeps' head to bear in 
full force, he rose from his chair, and, squirting a mouth- 
ful of tobacco-juice into the grate, walked to and fro upon 
the floor of the room, with his hands in his pockets, 
whistling " Yankee Doodle," and thus made my triumph 
complete. 

" I rode out early the following morning to the iron- 
works at Franconia, about six miles distant. They are the 
property of a company, and produce a metal of soft, tough 
quality, considered superior to any in the States. The 
ore is found in considerable quantities in the hills, three 
niiles distant, and supplies another foundry in the imme- 
diate vicinity; both establishments, however, are upon a 
small scale. Pursuing the Plymouth road for seven miles, 
I entered the Franconia Notch, a continuation of the 
White Mountains' range, and visited the " Profile of the 
Old Man of the Mountain," which is a most singular lusus 
natur®. An exact representation of the human features, 
as seen in profile, is most correctly delineated by the hand 
of nature upon the brow of a bare rock nearly iOOO feet 
in perpendicular height. No art could improve the ef- 
fect, nor could any attempt be made to assist it; for, the 
profile being seen perfect only from one point, the slight- 
est deviation from that spot throws all into a confusedmass. 
The upper part of the rock, too, upon which it appear, is 
so overhanging and free from shrubs for nearly 200 feet 
that all access to it is impracticable. One branch of the 
Pemigewasset River, which subsequently takes the name 
of the Merrimac, rises in a small pond at its base, and 
opposite to Mount Lafayette, which is 4300 feet in 
height. 

We set of the same afternoon in a mail cart drawn by 
one horse, over a hilly road and a good farming country, 
to the Connecticut River which we crossed to Waterford 
in the State of Vermont. Walking into a small tavern at 



156 A subaltern's furlough, 

seven o'clock, during the time our solitary horse was re' 
lieving, we found a fine portly landlord, sitting with his 
legs crossed, reading a newspaper by the blaze of a 
cheerful wood-fire, " Good evening, Colonel," said the 
driver; "tarnal cold weather this." "Aye," answered 
the gallant officer, rising from his arm-chair to make 
room for us, and resembling a trundling hogshead of 
ale in colour and shape, as he moved towards the bar; 
'•you are here sooner than I calc'lated; I've been at 
work fixing the road till sun-down, and making it as 
easy for you as 1 could by throwing dirt on it." So, in 
truth, it proved; for we could scarcely move two miles 
an hour through this marsh of his creation. I had fre- 
quently taken notice of this novel method of making or 
repairing a road in these parts of the States. The art 
consisted in first turning the ground up with a common 
plough, which was followed by a slightly-curved, broad 
board, edged with iron, and a long handle attached, 
which, upon being elevated by the person who had the 
guidance of the machine, penetrated the loose earth, and 
scooped itself full, when, being again depressed, the load 
was moved by a yoke of oxen to that part of the road 
which required repairs, and not unfrequentlywas it emp- 
tied into a deep rut filled with water. The Americans 
m general are not much given to wasting time, labour, 
and expense, upon the highways. During a journey of 
!500 miles J did not see a solitary labourer employed 
xipon them. 

Three hours' cold drive over the same miserable roads 
took us by six o'clock on the morning of the 25th to Ca- 
bot, nine miles from Danville, where we had passed the 
night. Thence passing the pretty falls of the Winooskie, 
which rushed over a forest-crowned precipice by the road 
side, we continued along the tourse of the stream to Mont- 
pelieT,the capital of V^ermont, containing 2000 inhabitants, 
and situated in a retired valley about half a mile wide, 
encircled by lofty hills, and at the junction of the Onion 
and Winooskie rivers. It was a day of election, and 
the State-house, a shabby-looking edifice occupying one 
side of a square, was crowded with the inhabitants, 
amongst whom a great sensation had been created by the 



A subaltern's furlough. 157 

proposed removal of the seat of government to Burling- 
ton on Lake Cliamplain, thirty-eight miles distant. 

Six horses took us rapidly from Montpelier along th^ 
margin of the Onion River, a narrow stream, but subject 
to heavy and sudden floods. The preceding year all the 
mills and factories at Middlesex, through which we passed, 
were carried away by the waters, and in many instances 
rough gravel-beds, or plains of white sand, had been left 
in exchange for rich and fertile meadows. One house was 
pointed out to me as having floated three-quarters of a 
milo from its original position, without much apparent 
injury ; another had been left by the retiring of the wa- 
ters on its gable end, and many had been swept away with 
all the proprietors' goods and chattels towards Lake 
Champlain. Not a bridge escaped uninjured: we crossed 
one, constructed entirely of thick planks, upon a similar 
principle, and with similar success, to the sloop "Experi- 
ment" at Washington. Symptoms of yielding to passing 
carriages early appeared, and the centre was now 
strengthened and supported by strong props from the bed 
of the river. The coachman pulled up for a few minutes 
to enable us to take a peep at the natural bridge near 
Bolton, the road passing within a few feet of the deep 
chasm at whose base it is formed. Appearances plainly 
demonstrate that the ridge which appears on each bank 
was originally connected, forming the dam of a large 
lake, and that the bridge was caused by the w^aters forc- 
ing the barrier, and the falling masses of rock becoming 
wedged in the narrow space. Four or five miles farther 
is seen the loftiest of the Green Mountains, known by the 
name of the Camel's Rump, from the form of its summit, 
which however bears a much closer resemblance to the Li- 
on Couchant at the Cape of Good Hope. The whole jour- 
ney from Montpelier was delightfully pleasant, andthrough 
a most romantic valley, from a quarter to a half mile in 
width, bounded by abrupt limestone rocks, which rose at 
intervals, w^ith the lofty range of the Green Mountains in 
their rear. Extensive farms of rich alluvial soil occu- 
pied either side of the Onion River, and numerous pic- 
turesque villages were scattered over the face of a hilly 
and wooded country. 

VOL. II. — o. 



i58 A SUBALtERN's FURLOUGP?. 

The sun had set ere we arrived within a view of ihd 
buildings of the University of Vermont, which crown the 
eminence at the entrance to Burlington. My limited 
time would not admit of a stay of any duration, but it ap- 
peared, en passant, a neat, pretty town, built on a light, 
sandy soil, lising gradually from the Lake. Taking 
the steamer which touched at ten o'clock the samenio:ht 
on its passage from St. John's, on the Sorel River, we 
proceeded down Champlain, with a cabin full of fiery, 
hot-headed Clayites and Jacksonmen, each espousing the 
cause of his favourite candidate so warmly that sleep was 
out of the question for any of the non-combatants. Fa- 
tigued with the length of my day's journey, I retired ear- 
ly to my berth for the purpose of inviting the drowsy 
god; but, the war of words waging louder and louder, 
I relinquished it, for the sake of learning whether any 
individual could possibly broach any thing new upon the 
subject. The only instance that occurred was in the 
person of a tall, broad-shouldered Kentukian, some six 
feet two inches in height, who, to my infinite satisfaction, 
put an end to the discussion, and dispersed the entire 
conclave, by saying to a little Clayman, "You are a 
pretty sample of a white man, now a'int you? I wish I 
had a tallow-candle here to grease your head, and I would 
swallov/ you whole." The man of Clay, though little 
in body, was great and spirit, and, nothing daunted, drew 
himself up to his utmost height, which did not exceed five 
feet three, and bustling up to the tall Kentuckian he an- 
swered, with a w^ariike shake of his head, " You would 
find me a bitter pill, I guess." The several disputants, 
however, slunk off to their cots before the wrath of the 
western giant, and in a few minutes more, all electioneer- 
ing animosities appeared buried in temporary oblivion, or 
superseded by the long arid deep-drawn breath which is- 
sued from their respective berths. 

We passed the classical spot of Ticonderoga, the scene 
of so much bloodshed, at break of day, and arrived with- 
in a mile of Whitehall by eight o'clock, when, the river 
becoming too narrow for the steamer, the passengers 
walked to the town over a flat, swampy ground, and im- 
mediately after breakfast embarked in a packet-boat, on 



A subaltern's rURLOUOH. 159 

the Champlain and Hudson Canal. The piers were 
covered with people, who assembled to witness the start- 
ing" of the opposition coaches and boats, w^hich, as usual 
elsewhere, were exerting themselves to ruin each other. 
A steamer gained a quarter of an hour's start, but six 
horses towed us through the water at a half canter, and 
we overtook it upon the point of entering a lock, when it 
again gained a few minutes by leaving it full of water. 
Any one would have imagined that all the passengers 
had some great stake at risk, so laboriously did they toil 
at opening the gates, and exert themselves to gain upon 
their rival. The road running parallel with the canal, 
I stepped into a coach which was pursuing the same 
route, my baggage in the hurry being thrown ashore 
most unceremoniously. The steamer's progress through 
the Avater being impeded by having her paddles under 
the centre of the vessel, she was soon left far in the 
rear. 

Two miles beyond the long straggling village of Fort 
Anne, we entered upon the military road constructed by 
General Burgoyne for the transportation of his batteaux 
and artillery, on the march from Quebec upon the Hud- 
son in 1777, two months previous to his surrender at 
Saratoofa. Portions of it are at this time in an excellent 
state of preservation, though upon the marshy ground it 
is formed of the trunks of trees a la corduroy. It takes 
nearly a direct line for the town of Sandy Hill, below 
which the British General threw a bridge of rafts across 
the river, and took post at Saratoga on the opposite bank. 
At the last-named town, twenty miles from Whitehall, we 
gained the first view of the Hudson, which is here about 200 
yards wide, and bounds, murmuring between high and 
well-cultivated banks, over a succession of shallows, with a 
descent of seventy feet in a quarter of a mile. Descending 
the hill into Fort Edward, two miles farther, an aged pine 
tree, w^hose summit has been blasted by the lightning, is 
:seen within a few yards to the right of the road. By the side 
of the spring at its foot, the melancholy murder of Miss 
M'Crae was perpetrated by the Indians who accompanied 
Burgoyne's army in the disastrous expedition of 1777. 
ThitS young ladj, who resided at Fort Edward, was both 



160 

beautiful and highly accomplished, and was contracted in 
marriage to a refugee officer of the name of Jones, in the 
British service, who, anxious that the union should take 
place, despatched a party of Indians to escort her to the 
British camp. In opposition to the wishes and entreaties 
of her friends, she willingly entrusted herself to their 
charge, but had proceeded only thus far upon the journey 
when they were met by another party, sent upon the same 
errand. A dispute arising about the promised reward (a 
barrel of rum), she was slain in a fit of savage passion by 
the chief, from whose hands she was snatched, and her 
scalp carried to her agonized lover, who was anxiously 
expecting the return of the parties, as a testimony that 
they had not failed in part performance of their commis- 
sion. It is said that the officer died soon after of a broken 
heart. The Americans at that time industriously promul- 
gated a report throughout the country, for the purpose 
of further incensing the people against the English, and 
widening the breach between the provinces and the mother 
country, that the unfortunate young lady had been mur- 
dered by the express desire of General Burgoyne, and that 
he had actually paid a reward to the Indians for her scalp. 
Such was the tenor of a letter from Gates, the American 
General, who did not hesitate in the most direct terms to 
accuse the British chieftain of so revolting a deed. Bur- 
goyne's answer was spirited and manljr- he said that, in 
this instance, he was induced to deviate from his general 
rule of "disdaining to justify himself against the rhapso- 
dies of fiction and calumny," lest silence should be con- 
strued into an acknowledgement of the charge, at the 
same time expressing his abhorrence of the deed in these 
words : " By this motive and upon this only, I conde- 
scend to inform you that I would not be conscious of the 
acts you presume to impute to me for the whole conti- 
nent of America, though the wealth of worlds was in its 
bowels, and a paradise upon its surface." We have 
seen that Dr. Emmons has charged the British wdth 
having committed similar barbarities during the late war 
and doubtless for similar laudable purposes. The tree, 
with Miss M'Crae's initials engraven upon it, still con- 
tinues an object of veneration to the inhabitants of the 



A subaltern's furlough. 161 

village ; and an old-fashioned house was pointed out to 
me, near the outline of an ancient French fort, as being 
■the residence of the unfortunate young lady. Her re- 
mains were removed eight or nine years since from the 
spot where she fell to Fort Edward Church. 

Three miles below Fort Miller, the surface of the 
country becoming more broken, we crossed the river to 
the right bank. The canal, which runs parallel with 
the road, crosses at the same time, by means of a dam to 
lull the rapids, thrown across the stream some distance 
below the bridge ; and in a few minutes we arrived at 
Schuylerville, the scene of Burgoyne's surrender. The 
field in which the British laid down their arms is 
upon a long plain, between two ranges of heights, near 
the banks of the Hudson. We changed horses and 
coachman at the village, the latter mounting his seat in 
such disgraceful state of intoxication that he could not 
even see the reins, but attempted to make amends by the 
use of his whip, with which he plied the horses so im- 
moderately that they whirled us along at full gallop over 
hill and dale, with the coach at a most alarming vicinity 
to a fifty-foot precipice whose base was washed by the 
river, with no defence nor guard between them. After 
he had twice fallen from his seat and injured himself se- 
verely, we resolved to run no further risks, but alighted 
upon the field of battle of B emus' Heights, eight miles 
from Schuylerville, and, having taken a short inspection 
of the ground, proceeded onwards a-foot. A farmer over- 
taking us in his wagon, proposed to convey us to the 
next town, six rniies distant, where we arrived about an 
hour after our baggage. After twice crossing the river 
again, once by bridge at Waterford, and, by ferry at Troy, 
four miles lower down, we arrived at Albany, the capi- 
tal of the state of New- York, when the night was far ad- 
vanced. 

At eight o'clock the following morning, we proceeded 
in the Champlain, a splendid steamer, down the Hud- 
son. The channel, for several miles below Albany, is 
intricate and shallow ; the banks low, not well cultivated, 
and possessing but little interest, until we came to Cox- 
sackie Landing, when they become more elevated, and 

0* 



162 A subaltern's furlough. 

the scenery gradually improves as the stream approaches 
the ocean. The lofty range of the Catskill Mountains 
are seen rearing their wooded summits to the height of 
3800 feet, ten miles distant from the right bank, with the 
long white buildings of an hotel, the favourite rendez- 
vous of New- York fashionables in the summer sea- 
son, at the cool elevation 2200 feet above the Hudson. 
A few miles below, at Kingston and Red Hook, is the 
only considerable group of gentlemen's country resi- 
dences (in the English acceptation of the term) I had 
seen, which have more an air of Aristocracy about them 
than the houses in any other part of the States I visit- 
ed. They are prettily scattered along the margin of 
the river for an extent of several miles, with extensive 
pleasure grounds attached to them. 

I took advantage of the steamer touching to land at 
West-Point, the seat of the Government Military Aca- 
demy, 94 miles from Albany. It is situated in a roman- 
tic spot at the entrance to the H^ighlands, a mountainous 
rocky ridge, running parallel v/ith the Hudson on both 
banks for twenty miles, and generally rising very abruptly 
from the water to various heights, from 800 to 1000 feet. 
The Cadets' Barracks, the game formal and substantially- 
built edifices as elsewhere for similar purposes, with the 
houses of the commandant and officers attached to the 
institution, form nearly three sides of a square, with a 
parade-ground in the open space, upon a plain about 200 
feet above the river. The rear is sheltered from the 
south and west by a hill 600 feet in height, crowned by 
the remnants of a revolutionary fort, which are, as the 
Americans boast, the only ruins in the United States. 
In a redoubt at an angle of the parade-ground, a white 
marble monument is inscribed with the name of Kosci- 
usko, the Polish patriot, w^ho resided in a small house on 
the sloping bank of the river, and occupied much of his 
time in cultivatinsf a ora.rden, w'hich still bears marks of 
his industry and taste. West-Point was one of the 
strongest American holds during the war of indepen- 
dence, and is celebrated as being the cause of the unfor- 
tunate Major Andre's death. Colonel Beverly Robin- 
son's house, which was confiscated in consequence of 



A subaltern's furlough. 103 

the active part the proprietor took in bringing about the 
conference between Andre and Arnold, is on the oppo- 
site side of the river, and visible from the parade-ground. 
The institution received its first organization by an act 
of Congress in 1812. The number of students is limit- 
ed to 250, all of whom are educated and maintained at 
the expense of the general Government, the annual cost 
of each being about 72Z. sterling. At this time there 
was nearly the full complement, being a much greater 
number than is required for the officering of the small 
.American standing army of 6000 men; but many of 
those educated here prove of infinite service in the su- 
perintendence of public works as civil engineers, and in 
organizing the militia. The average number of those 
who are commissioned in the regular army from the aca- 
demy but little exceeds one-third of those who are enter- 
ed at it; about one-eighth are discharafed, and the re- 
maining proportion resign. They are permitted to en- 
ter between the ages of 14 and 22, preference being 
given to the applications of the sons of officers engaged 
in the revolutionary war ; and next to the sons of officers 
killed in action, or the sons of deceased officers who 
were ensfao-ed during; the last war wnth Great Britain. 
The system of education and military drill are taken 
closely from that of the French, and I verily believe 
that the Americans would give the preference to a system 
which emanated from that nation, though it were inferior 
to that in practice in England. The drills are confined 
to the infantry and artillery service, there being no 
riding-school nor detachment of cavalry at the station, 
for instruction in that useful arm of warfare, which' will 
daily become more requisite as the forests disappear be- 
fore the woodman's axe. In many respects the site of 
the Academy is an ill-chosen and inconvenient one, the 
ground being too contracted and abrupt for cavalry 
movements, in case they should be required, and too 
rocky for the construction of field works and landscape 
sketching. It cannot be a matter of surprise that so ma- 
ny of the young men resign their claims to commissions, 
the army being scattered in distant and small detach- 
ments along some thousands of miles of coast and fron- 



164 



A SUBALTERN S FITRLOUGH. 



tier, many of them removed far away out of the pale of 
all society, which, in times of peace, tends so much to 
render the profession an agreeable one. The ranks of 
it are also recruited with great difficulty, and many 
European emigrants may be found serving under the 
American standard. The very nature of the government 
totally unfits the people for strict military discipline ; 
they are more calculated for militia and active irregular 
warfare than for garrison or outpost duties. Although 
the term of enlistment is for a very limited period 
(five years only, I believe,) desertions thin their ranks 
daily, as may be seen by the following report of the 
Secretary of War, bearing date the 22d of February, 
1830 :— 
Year. Desertions. 



1823 . 


668 


1824 . 


811 


1825 . 


803 


1826 . 


636 


1827 . 


848 


1828 . 


820 


1829 


. 1083 

.1 



Courts Martial. 


Cost, in dollm's. 


1093 . 


58,677 


1175 . 


70,398 


. 1208 


67,488 


1115 


59,393 


991 . 


61,344 


. 1476 


62,137 




96,826 



So, calculating the army at 6000, which is its utmost ex- 
tent, upwards of one-fifth have deserted and one-fourth 
have been tried by courts-martial during the last year in- 
cluded in the above return ; and, taking that of the low- 
est year one in nine have deserted, and one in six hav« 
been tried by a military court ! The general average 
gives the number of desertions in nine years equal to the 
whole army, and that of courts-martial equal to it in four 
years. Desertions from the English troops on the 
American frontier, I am sorry to say, are not unfrequent 
but they are extremely insignificant when compared 
with the above. That the present standing army of the 
United States is too small for even checking the preda- 
tory incursions of the Indians is evident from the cir- 
cumstance that, at the breaking out of the war with the 
Sac and Fox Indians, near the Illinois territory, imme- 
diately after my arrival in America, a placard, address- 
ed " to the Patriotic Young Men of New- York," was 
posted in every conspicuous part of that city, stating that 



A subaltern's furlough. 165 

500 volunteers were " required for immediate service 
upon the north-west frontier." I could not ascertain 
whether any such soldiers of a day composed part of the 
force which proceeded upon service, but nearly an entire 
division of which deserted to Upper Canada when their 
more dreaded enemy, the cholera, appeared amongst the 
ranks. 

I twice saw the cadets at drill, but their long hair, 
dirty grey uniform, and want of erect military carriage, 
were sufficient to mar the appearance of the finest body 
of men in the world under arms. The words of com- 
mand, too, were issued in such a drawling careless tone 
of voice, that the movements were necessarily performed 
in a similar manner, — devoid of all smartness and preci- 
sion. The interior economy of the establishment, how- 
ever, is said to be well conducted, and strict discipline is 
enforced by Colonel Thayer, the present gentlemanly 
and able commandant. Though the soldierlike appear- 
ance of the cadets might not have exactly come up to my 
expectations, yet, if ever the two nations are so unfortu- 
nate as to meet ag-ain in hostile array, the good efll^cts of 
this institution will be apparent in the polished manners 
and information acquired there by the American officers. 
In former campaigns, generals have been called from the 
rear of their counters to assume the command of armies, 
and men who could not even sign their name from the 
plough to head divisions. Owing to the scattered state 
of the forces, it was my fortune to become acquainted with 
only few military and naval officers ; but the uniform at- 
tention and kindness I experienced from all was such that 
I should feel proud in being enabled to render similar 
courtesies to any one bearing a commission from the Unit- 
ed States. 

We embarked in the afternoon of the 28th of October 
in the gigantic steamer, the " North America," which 
shot through the Highlands at the rate of sixteen miles 
an hour, f should have had all the New-Yorkers up in 
arms, and inveighing against me in no measured terms, 
had I ventured to express any thing like disappointment 
at the scenery of the Hudson. But so it was, and my 
expectations were not realized ; because, as at the Falls 



166 A subaltern's furlough. 

of the Mohawk, its beauties had been much overrated. 
J had generally heard the Hudson compared to the 
Rhine, and many, indeed, professed to think it superior; 
but my Avant of taste (I should imagine) would no more 
admit of such a comparison than it would that New- York 
and London should be mentioned in the same breath. 
The scenery between Albany and West-Point is not in 
any ways remarkable ; the Highlands, when taken sepa- 
rately, have nothing interesting, and no single reach of 
the river possesses any particular beauty. The rocky 
hills, covered with a thin and low growth of trees, ap- 
proach to the water's edge, without any signs of cultiva- 
tion or habitations to give the scenery life. The tout 
ensemhle is all that is pleasing, and the numerous crag- 
gy precipices towering one above another alone possess 
any claims to the picturesque. I had kept the H^udson 
in reserve, as a kind of bonne bouche, previous to my im- 
mediate departure for England, expecting that I might 
.see it to the greatest advantage at a late season in the 
year. For this hint I was indebted to the great Ameri- 
can novelist, and shall make a short extract from the 
" 8py " as being more graphical than any thing I can 
compose upon the subject, and as exonerating me from 
the trouble of penning a laboured description. " To be 
seen in their perfection, the Highlands must be passed im- 
mediately after the fall of the leaf The picture is then in 
its chastest keeping; for neither the scanty foliage which 
the summer lends the trees nor the snows of winter are 
present to conceal the minutest object from the eye. 
Chilling solitude is the characteristic of the scenery; 
nor is the mind at liberty, as in March, to look forward 
to a renewed vegetation that is soon to check, without 
improving the view." 

After passing the Highlands, the river expands into 
several fine bays, and the shores assume a more fertile 
appearance. In turn we rapidly passed the extensive pile 
of buildings of Sing-Sing state prison, conducted on a 
similar system to Auburn, and Tarry -town in the vicinity 
of Sleepy Hollow, of Sketch-book memory, with Tappan 
upon the opposite side of the bay of that name. A pas. 
^enger pointed out to me a spot upon the road which wind? 



A Subaltern s furlough. 

d^wn the side of a hill from the Highlands into the little 
village of Tarry-town, where the tree formerly stood 
under which the three militia-men were playing at cards, 
when Major Andre rode up, and, losing his usual presence 
of mind, was captured; one of the three men is yet living. 
I perfectly agreed in the old passenger's remark, as he 
was relating how he had played under the very tree when 
a child, " that Andre was too much of a gentleman and 
too honourable a man foj the undertaking." I believe 
that the Americans generally sympathized in his fate, and 
that great efforts were made by Washington to capture 
Arnold, and thus save Andre. Though it must be allow- 
ed that he suffered according to the rules of civilized war- 
fare, yet still I am one of those who think, considering all 
the circumstances of the case, that Andre might have been 
well spared, and such an act of mercy would have added 
another ray to the lustre of Washington's name. Andre's 
remains were removed at the latter end of the reign of 
George III. from the valley in rear of Tappan, to a vault 
in Westminster Abbey.* 

The Palisadoes, a range of perpendicular flutted rocks, 
like the Giant's Causeway in Ireland, extend along the 
right bank of the river, to the height of 200 feet, and 
exclude all prospects of the interior for 20 miles below 
Tappan. The opposite side is also high ground, but inter- 
spersed with villages and cultivated lancls. The evening 
had set in by the time we approached New- York, where 
the long lines of streets, running in a direct line from the 
river, brilliantly lighted with gas, and steamers momen- 
tarily passing us, which left a long fiery, comet-like train 
of sparks from the many chimneys of their timber-fed 
furnaces, presented altogether a fine Vauxhall effect. In 
three hours and a half from the time we had left West- 
Point, we landed at New- York, fifty miles distant, though 
a flood-tide hadbeenmaking against us during the greater 
part of the time. The " Champlain," in which I embarked 
at Albany, performed the entire trip of 144 miles in little 
more than nine hours, including fourteen stoppages to 
land passengers, being an average speed of nineteeii 
miles per hour. 

* Vide Appendix III. 



168 A subaltern's FunLouaH. 

The city had now resumed its wonted gaiety ; the cho- 
lera panic had ceased; the citizens had returned to their 
customary occupations, and Broad way was again thronged 
with carriages and the battery with loungers. The 
theatres were re-opened ; the witty auctioneer was again 
punning to a crowded room ; and an Italian Companj^ had 
established themselv^es, bidding fair to supersede the per- 
formers of the drama in public opinion ; in short, all care 
appeared to have vanished with the pestilence. It now 
only wanted two or three days to the commencement, of 
the quadrennial election, and new squibs or caricatures 
were hourly teeming from the press. Hickory-trees, em- 
blems of the Jackson party, were planted in many streets 
of the upper part of the city, and were as often cut down 
during the night by the advocates of Clay. I saw one, 
nearly 69 feet in height, brought across the East River 
from Brooklyn, accompanied by a grand display of boats, 
colours, and music, and afterwards planted with much 
ceremony upon one of the quays. Every one assured me 
that party spirit had not run so high since the republic 
had been acknowledged, and I can certainly testify that 
the whole country was in a perpetual state of ferment 
from the day of my landing until that of my embarka- 
tion for England. 

Thereis generally a break in the weather in the month 
of October, which, from being cold and boisterous, be- 
comes mild and genial as spring during several days, and 
is termed " Indian summer." It continued during my 
stay in New-York, nor could any thing be more delight- 
fully pleasant than it was. The few days I had to remain 
ashore were passed in visiting Staten Island and the sur- 
rounding country, which I had omitted during my former 
visit. I also attended the Bowery Theatre one evening 
to witness the performance of a new national drama, en- 
titled " the Cradle of Liberty," in which, as usual, all the 
wit was upon one side, and levelled point blank at the 
British. Patriotic sentiments were received most enthu^ 
siastically, and one — " the proud flag of England shall be 
lowered never again to rise" — created most tumultuous ap- 
plause. The plot throughout was, however, a most meagre 
production, and the composition replete with plagiarisms, 
from the opening scene to the fall of the green curtain. 



A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH, 

At sunset, on the 1st of November, 1832, the packet- 
ship, " North America," of (520 tons, in which I had en- 
gaged a passage, was clear of Sandy Hook, and standing 
out to sea in a thick haze before a southerly wind. The 
London and Havre packets were in company, but our 
swift sailing run them hull down in a few short hours, 
and we met not a single vessel from that time until we 
entered the chops of the channel. 

Scarcely any thing can exceed the comfort and attention 
experienced on board the American packet ships, where 
ilie cabins are fitted up in a costly and elegant style, and 
the dinner-table is loaded with a profusion of delicacies. 
When in addition to these recom nendations there is a 
gentlemanly Captain and an agreeable party of passenger* 
(as in this instance,) even the most misantiiropic being 
might live with fewreo-rets during a voyage across what 
has now become a mere ferry. Late oa the 5th day we 
were on the banks of Newfoundland, with a heavy swell, 
and thirty-fi ve fathoms water. The wind lulled for a few 
hours, as if in order to enable us to heave to under our 
main-topsail and take thirty cod-fish, when a north- 
westerly gale springing up, with sharp squalls and rairt; 
we scudded before it, and on tlie 14th day were in sight 
of the high lands round Bantry Bay and Cape Clear, 
Ireland, 3030 miles from our starting post. 

The Weather now became serene and beautiful, and, had 
not the dead calm which succeeded the gale threatened to 
frustrate all our expectations of making the shortest pas- 
sage upon record, we could with pleasure hav^e remained 
a week or two in the same situation. I never experienced 
a more delightful and sudden transition. The days were 
more mild and genial than in the month of May; the sun 
set with all the softness and mellowed tints of an Italian 
clime: and, on the nitrht of the 15th of Novembci the 
northern lights illumined the heavens with an unusual 
brilliancy. The heavy gale had swept away the dim blue 
haze which generally hangs over the land, and the bold 
and picturesque coast of the south of Ireland stood forth 
with all its transcendant beauties. All around us, save a 
dark line to windward, presented one placid and glittering 
sheet of long unbroken billows. Our ship was rolling 

VOL. IL — p. 



▲ bubaltern's furlough, 

listlessly upon the smooth surface of the waves, just be- 
yond the verge of the last puff of the sea-breeze, and the 
number of vessels around us hourly increased, their well- 
filled canvass rising above the dark ripple on the distant 
horizon, and gradually creeping towards us with dimi- 
nished speed, until every sail flapped and beat itself against 
the straining masts in our ovvn hapless condition. In my 
eyes our sister isle never wore half so lovely an appear- 
ance, and I felt something like pride at her being seen to 
such advantage by the many strangers on board ; but, as if 
«oy and bashful, she soon drew a thick veil over her 
charms, or, in other words, true English v/eather set in. 
The long-dreaded south-easterly wind, with its usual con- 
comitant — a dense fog, succeeded after the expiration of 
two most delightful days. 

After beating a few hours to windward in order to wea- 
ther the Cape, we were enabled to bear up the channel 
with studding-sails set, and were ofTFlol^-head the follow- 
ingevening, when time again hung heavily on our hands. 
It was Sunday night, and the pilots preferred continuing 
their carousals to noticing the numerous rockets, blue 
lights, and signal guns we fired, and kept us beating on 
and off shore in squally, unpleasant weather, until day- 
light, when one of them took charge of the ship, and gave 
us the first news of a Dutch war. As usual in such cases, 
the accounts were greatly exaggerated ; but he had more 
compassion than a Cork pilot, who three days previously, 
boarded a vessel in which an acquaintance of mine was 
passenger, and destroyed the whole Russian fleet, with 
only the loss of a few English line-of-battle ships ; yet the 
information was such as to raise the military barometer of 
the officers on board to the hio^hest degree. The wind 
veered a-head during the two following days, which time 
barely sufficed to beat to the mouth of the Mersey, a 
distance of fifty miles ; nor did we land amongst the ha- 
zy and dark buildings of Liverpool until the 19th day 
from our leaving New- York bay : a fourth of this our 
short passage had been most provokingly swallowed up 
by the few miles of the Irish channel. 

*' You might easily pass muster as one of us ; fof I 
ghould never hare imagined you to be the countryman of 



JL subaltern's furlough. 171 

TThcse sturdy fellows," said an American fellow-passengex 
to me, as we were pushing- our way through the dens© 
«rowd on the quay the following morning-, and escorting 
our baggage to the Custom House, where it was passed 
in due time ; and after the payment of half a crown for 
'' specimens of minerals" (videlicet, a lump of Schuylkill 
«oal, cedar from the tomb of Washington, splinter from 
the vessel which was carried over the Falls of Niagara, 
and part of Termination Rock from under them, with, 
divers other such valuable relics.) I was soon again, 
irundling rapidly in a good coach along the smooth road* 
and amid the well-cultivated lands of the broad-shouldv 
(td sons of Old Eng-land. 



APPENDIX I. 



The Colonies had appealed to arms for the decision of 
the controversy between them and the mother country for 
some time before they actually declared their independence 
of Great Britain. The subject of a separation had occupied 
the ablest pens in America throughout the winter of 1775 
and 1776, and many of the Provinces had authorized their 
Representatives in the General Congress to make a proposi- 
tion to that effect. The breach was now too wide to be 
repaired, and it was evident to every one that a final separa- 
tion must take place. The provincialisls had now felt their 
strength, and had good prospects of maintaining iheir inde- 
pendence. The battles of Lexington and Bunker's Hill had 
been fought upwards of a year; the royal army had been 
blockaded in Boston by an undisciplined and partly unarm- 
ed militia ; Quebec had been laid siege to, and General 
Montgomery had fallen : Montreal had surrendered ; 
Fort Chamblee had been captured, and the whole of th» 
New England States were occupied by provincial troops. 
Colonel George Washington, who had distinguished him- 
self as aid-de-camp to General Braddock in his unfortunate 
expedition in 1755, and who was at this time forty-three 
years of age, had been appointed by Congress in June, 1775, 
as Commander-in-chief of the army "assembled for the de- 
fence of American liberty, and for repelling every hostile 
invasion thereof." At an earl)^ period in the same year, 
letters of marque and reprisal had been granted by the Con- 
gress of Massachusetts, though this heretofore had been a 
prerogative of the Sovereign ; and a resolution had been 
proposed that the Colonies should form governments inde- 
pendent of the Crown. At last, on the 7th of June, 1776j 
Richard Henry Lee, a Virginian, moved a resolution in gene- 
ral Congress, to the effect " that the United Colonies are and 
of right ought to be free and independent States." He wa* 



1T4 APPENDIX, 

seconded by John Adams, and the motion \^ as carried on the 
10th, by a bdre majority of the Colonies; and a cominittee 
consisting of Jefferson, John Adams, Dr. Franklin, Sherman, 
and R. Livingston, was appointed to prepare a Declaration. 
The first two were selected as a sub-committee. Mr. Jeffer- 
son, who was at this tin:e only thirty-three years of age, 
and by profession a lawyer, had the merit, of drawing up 
this important document, a few changes only being suggest- 
ed by Adams and Franklin. After a discussion of three days* 
duration, in which some iinimporta.it alterations were made 
by Congress, it received their approbation on the 4th of 
July, 1776. and was proclaimed from the steps of the State 
House in Philadelphia, where the assembled. It did not, 
however, receive the signatures of the members until the 2d 
of August, being previously authenticated only by those of 
the President and Secretary. Between the 4ih of July and 
this day many new, members, amongst whom were Carroll, 
Ta-'lor, Thornton, Clymer, Rush, Smith, and Koss, took 
their seats in the house, and affixed their names to the de- 
claration, though tliey were not present at the discussion. 
Hancock, an opulent merchant of Boston, was President of 
the Congress, though many men of more transcendent abili- 
ties were in that body ; hut he had gained popularity in the 
Provinces, from 'the circumstance of General Gage having 
issued a proclamation, offering a free pardon to all persons 
who should lay down their arms, excepting only from such 
pardon John Hancock and Samuel ^dams. 

The average length of the lives of the fifty-six signers 
was sixty-five years, and a remarkable difference is to be 
observed between the longevity of the New England dele- 
gates and of those from the more unhealthy States in the 
south. Taking the first fifteen from the New England list, 
there avarage age at the time of their death was sevent5^-six, 
while that of the ten delegates from Georgia and North and 
South C&rolina was fifty. The deaths of Jefferson and 
John Adams, who had both filled the presidential chair, form 
an epoch in the annals of American history; they both 
occurred on the 4th of Jul^r, J82H, within three hours of 
each other, and on the fiftieth anniversary of the day 
upon which they had been fellow-labourers in the work of 
drawing rp the celebrated document. To this may be added 
that Monroe, the fifth president of the United States, died 
on the 4th of July, 1831: thus doc^ this singular coinci- 
dence add a melancholy interest to that day of which, it 
appears, the Americans think they Can never be too proud. 
Charles Carroll of CarrolltOHj the last of this long list of 



APPENDIX. 



ns 



patriarches, has sunk into his grave within these few 
months, at the advanced age of ninety-six years. 

A copy of the original "draft is given in the following 
pages as produced from tlie study of Mr. Jefferson, and also 
another of that one which, having received a few amend- 
ments from the General Congress, was circulated through- 
out the United States, and was everywhere received with 
the greatest enlhusiasm. It was also proclaimed at the 
head of the army which was then lying in the vicinity of 
New-York, and only a short time previous to the disastrous 
defeat of the Revolutionists at Flatbush and the heights of 
Brooklyn on Long-Island. 

The fac-simile of the signatures has been taken from an 
authenticated copy of the original document preserved in 
the State-paper Office at Washington. The pen with which 
the signutMres were made is still to be seen in the library of 
one of the literary societies in Massachusetts. 



IN CONGRESS, 
Juhj 4, 1776, 

THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Mr. Jefferson's draft as reported 
by the Committee. 

"A Declaration by the Repre- 
j^entatives of the Lnited States 
pf America in General* Congress 
assembled. 

" When in the course of hu- 
man events it becomes necessary 
for one people to dissolve the 
political bonds which have con- 
nected them with another, and to 
assume among the powers of the 



^s amended by Congress. 



" A Declaration by the Repre- 
sentatives of the United Statea 
of America in Congress assem- 
bled. 

Not altered. 



* The words expunged from the original draft are distinguished bj ttallai, 
as ar« the words that were introduced by Congress. 



176 



APPENDIX- 



earth the separate and equal sta- 
tion to which the laws of nature 
and of nature's God entitle them, 
a decent respect for the opinions 
of mankind requires that they 
should declare the causes which 
impel them to the separation. 

" We hold these truths to be 
self-evident, — that all men are 
created equal ; that they are en- 
doAved by their Creator with 
inherent and inalienable rights ; 
that among these are life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness ; 
that, to seciu'e these rights, gov- 
ernments are instituted among 
men, deriving their just powers 
from the consent of the governed; 
that, Avhenever any form of gov- 
ernment becomes destructive of 
these ends, it is the right of the 
people to alter or to abolish it, 
and to institute new government, 
laying its foundation on such 
principles and organizing its 
powers in such form as to them 
shall seem most likely to effect 
their safety and happiness. Pru- 
dence indeed will dictate that 
governments long established 
should not be changed for light 
and transient causes ; and accord- 
ingly all experience hath shoAvn 
that mankind are more disposed 
to suffer, Avhile evils are suffera- 
ble, than to right themselves by 
abolishing the forms to Avhich 
they are accustomed. But Avhen 
a long train of abuses and usur- 
pations, begun at a distinguished 
period, and pursuing invariably 
the same object, evinces a design 
to reduce them under absolute 
despotism, it is their right — it is 
their duty — to throw off such 
government, and to provide new 
guards for their future security. 
Such has been the patient suffer- 
ance of these Colonies ; and such 
is now the necessity which con- 



" We hold these truths to hs 
self-evident, — that all men arc 
created equal ; that they are en- 
doAved by their Creator witk 
certain inalienable rights; that 
among these are life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness ; that to 
secure these rights, governments 
are institutud among men, derir- 
ing their just powers from ttic 
consent of the governed; that, 
Avhenever any form of gOA'^ern- 
ment becomes destructive of 
these ends, it is the right of the 
people to alter or to abolish it, and 
to institute new gOA'ernment, lay- 
ing its foundation on such prin- 
ciples and organizing its poAvcrs 
in such form as to them shall 
seem most likely to effect their 
safety and happiness. Prudence 
indeed Avill dictate that govern- 
ments long established should not 
be changed for light and transient 
causes ; and accordingly all expe- 
rience hath shown that mankind 
are more disposed to suffer, whik 
evils are sufferable, than to right 
themselves by abolishing the 
forms to Avhich they are accus- 
tomed. ButAvhen a long train of 
abuses and usurpations, pursuing 
invariably the same object, evin- , 
ces a design to reduce them under 
absolute despotism, it is their 
right — it is their duty — to throw 
off such government, and to pro- 
vide ncAv guards for their future 
security. Such has been the pa- 
tient sufferance of these Colonies, 
and such is now the necessity 
which constrains them to eUta- 
their former systems of gorera- 



APPENDIX. 



177 



•trains them to expunge their for- 
mer systems of government. The 
history of the present King of 
Great Britain is a history of un- 
remitting injuries and usurpa- 
tions, among which aj)pears no 
solitary fact to contradict the. nni- 
form tenoitr of the rest, but all 
have in direct object the establish- 
ment of an absohue tyranny over 
these States. To prove this, let 
facts be submitted to a candid 
■world, for the truth of which we 
pledge a faith yet unsullied by false- 
hood. 

"He has refused his assent to 
laws the most wholesome and ne- 
cessary for the public good. 

" He has forbidden his govern- 
ors to pass Ia^vs of immediate 
and pressing importance, unless 
suspended in their operation till 
his assent should be obtained; 
and when so suspended he has 
utterly neglected to attend to 
them. 

" He hns refused to pass other 
laws for the accommodation of 
large districts of peo}>le, unless 
those people would relinquish 
the right of representa'ion in the 
Legislature; a riglit inestimable 
to them, and formidable to ty- 
i-ants only. 

"He has called too-ether legis- 
lative bodies at i)lKces unusual, 
uncomfortable, and distant fi-nm 
the depository of their public 
records, for the sole purpose of 
fatiguing them into compliance 
with his measures. 

** He has dissolved representa- 
tive houses repeatedly and con- 
tinually., for opposing with manly 
firmness his invasions on the 
rig^hts of the people. 



ment. The history of the present 
King of Great Britain is a histo- 
ry of repeated injuries and visur- 
pations, all having in direct object 
the establishment of an absolute 
tyranny over these States. To 
prove this, let facts be submitted 
to a candid world. 



Not altered. 



Not altered. 



Not altered- 



Not altered. 



" He has dissolved representa- 
tive houses repeatedly for oppos- 
ing with manly firmness his in- 
vasions on the rights of the peo- 
ple. 



178 



APPENDIX. 



" He has refused for a long Not alUred 
time after such dissolutions to 
cause others to be elected, wiiere- 
by the leii^islative powers, incapa- 
ble of annihilation, have returned 
to the people at large for their 
exercise, the State remaining, in 
the mean time, exposed to the 
dangers of invasion from without 
and convulsions within. 

"He has endeavoured to pre- Not altered, 
rent the populaiion of these 
States ; for that purpose obstruct- 
ing the laws for the naturaliza- 
tion of foreigners, refusing to 
pass others to encourage their 
migrations hither, and raising the 
conditions of new appropriations 
of lands. 

" He has 5?«^ererf the adminis- "He has oftsfrwcfcd the admin- 

tration of justice totally to cease i^tration of justice, by refusing 

in some of these States, refusing his assent to laws for establLshing 

his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers, 
judiciary powers. 



"He has made owr judges de- 
pendent on his will alone for the 
tenure of their offices and the 
amount and payment of their 
salaries. 

"He has erected a mxiltitude 
of new offices, hy a self-assumed 
poicer, and sent hither swarms of 
new officers to harass our people 
and eat out their substance. 

"He has kept among us in 
times of peace standing armies 
and ships of war without the con- 
sent of our Legislatures. 

"He hasaflfceted to render the 
military independent of and su- 
perior to the civil power. 

"He has combined with others 
to subject us to a jurisdiction 
foreign to our constitutions and 



" He has made judges depen- 
dent on his will alone for the 
tenure of their offices and the 
amount and payment of theii 
salaries. 

" He has erected a multitiKle 
of new offices, and sent hither 
swarms of new officers to harass 
our people and eat out their sub- 
stance. 

"He has kept among us in 
times of peace standing armies 
without the consent of our Le- 
gislatures. 

Not altered. 



"He has combined with others 
to subject us to a jurisdictio» 
foreign to our constitutions euid 



APPENDIX. 



iT£^ 



>»jaacknowledged by oiu* laws, 
giving his assent to their acts of 
pretended legislation for quarter- 
ing large bodies of armed troops 
among us; for protecting by a 
mock trial from punishment for 
any murders which they should 
eommit on the inhabitants of 
tliese States ; for cutting off our 
trade with all parts of the world ; 
for imposing taxes on us without 
<mr consent ; for depriving us of 
the benefits of trial by jury ; for 
&"ansporting us beyond seas to be 
tried for pretended offences ; for 
abolishing the free system of 
Eng-lish laws in a neigbouring 
Province, establishing therein an 
arbitrary government, and en- 
larging its boundaries, so as to 
render it at once an example and 
fit instrument for introducing the 
same absolute rule into these 
States; for taking away our char- 
ters, abolishing ourmost valualile 
laws, and altering fundamentally 
the forms of our governments ; 
for suspending our own Legisla- 
tures, and declaring themselves 
invested with ])ower to legislate 
for us in all cases whatsoever. 



unacknowledged by our laws, 
giving his assent to their acts of 
pretended legislation for quarter^- 
ing large bodies of troops among 
us ; for protecting by a mock trial 
from punishment for any murders 
which they should commit on the 
inhabitants of these States ; for 
cutting off our trade with all 
parts of the world ; for imposing 
taxes on us without our coiisent ; 
for depriving us in many cases of 
the benefits of trial by jury ; for 
transporting us beyond seas to be 
tried for pretended offences; for 
abolishing the free system of 
English laws in a neighbouring 
Province, establishing therein aa 
arbitrary government, and en- 
larging its boundaries, so as to 
render it at once an example and 
fit instrument for introducing the 
same absolute rule into thesr 
Colonies; for taking away our 
charters, abolishing our most. 
valuable laws, and altering fun- 
damentally the forms of our 
governments ; for suspending our 
own Legislatures, and declaring- 
themselves invested with power 
to legislate for us in all case* 
whatsoever. 



" He has abdicated govern- 
ment here, withdrawing his gov- 
Htnors,- and declaring us out of his 
idlegiance and protection. 

"He has plundered our seas, 
raTaged our coasts, burnt our 
towns, and destroyed the lives of 
our people. 

"He is at this time transport- 
ing large armies of foreign merce- 
naries to complete the works of 
death, desolation, and tyranny 
already begun, with circumstan- 
ces of cruelty nnd perfidy un- 
worthy the head of a ciyilized na- 
tion. 



" Helias abdicated governmem 
here by declaring usont of his pro- 
tection and waging in ar against %s. 



Not altered. 



" He is at this time transport- 
ing large armies of foreign merce- 
naries to complete the works of 
death, desolation, and tyranny 
already begun, with circumstan- 
ces of cruelty and perfidy scare e/f 
paralleled in the most hnrbar&m 
ages, and totally unworthy th© 
head of a ciriiized nation. 



180 



APPENDIX. 



"He has constrained our fel- 
low citizens taken captive on tiie 
high seas to bear aims against 
their country, to become the exe- 
cutioxiers of their friends and 
brethren, or to fall themselves by 
their hands. 

"He has endeavoured to bring 
on the inhabitants of tlie fron- 
tiers the merciless Indian sava- 
ges, whose known rule of war- 
fare is an undistinguisiied de- 
struction of all ages, sexes, aiid 
condition of existence. 



" He has excited treasonable 
insurrections of our fellow-citi- 
zens with the allurements of for- 
feiture and confiscation of our 
property. 

"He has waged war against 
human nature itself, violating its 
most sacred rights of life, and 
liberty in the persons of a distant 
people who never offended him, 
captivating and carrying them 
into slavery in another hemi- 
sphere, or to incur miserable 
death in their transportation 
thither. This piratical warfare, 
the opprobium of Infidel pow- 
ers, is the warfare of the Chris- 
tian King of Great Britain. — 
Determined to keep open a mar- 
ket where men should be bought 
and sold, he has prostituted his 
negative for suppressing every 
legislative attempt to prohibit or 
to restrain this execrable com- 
merce. And, that this assem- 
blage of horrors might want no 
fact of distinguishing die, he is 
aow exciting those very people i,o 
rise in arms among us, and to 
purchase that liberty of which he 
has deprived them by murdering 
the people on whom he has ob- 
fruded them, thus paying off for- 



Not altered. 



" He has excited domestie fstaut- 
rections aiiiong ux, and has endea-. 
voured to bring un the inhabitant* 
of the frontiers the merciless In- 
dian savages, whose krtown rul» 
of warfare is an undistinguished 
destruction of al' iges, sexes, aaU 
conditions. 

Struck out. 



Struck ouu 



APPENDIX 



181 



mer crimes committed against the 
LIBERTIES of One pcoplc with 
crimes which he urges them to 
commit against the lives of 
another. 

" In every stage of these op- 
pressions we have petitioned for 
redress in the most humbled 
terms; our repeated petitions 
have been answered only by re- 
peated injuries. 

*' A prince whose character is 
thuB marked by every act which 
may'define a tyraiU as unfit to be 
the ruler of a people ivho meayi to 
free. Future ages ivill scarcely hc" 
lieve that the hardiness of one man 
adventured, roUkin the short com- 
pass of twelve years only, to lay a 
foundation so broad and so undis- 
guised for tyranny over a people 
fostered and fixed in principles of 
freedom. 

" Nor have we been wanting in 
attention to our British brethren. 
We have warned them from time 
to time of attempts by their legis- 
lature to extend a jurisdiction 
over these our States. We have 
reminded them of the circumstan- 
ces of our emigration and settle- 
ment here, no one of lohich could 
warrant so strange a pretension ; 
these were effected at the expense of 
our own blood and treasure, unas- 
s-isted by the wealth or the strength 
of Great Britain; that in consti- 
tuting indeed our several forjns of 
government we had adopted our 
eoinmon king, thereby laying a 
foundation for perpetual league and 
amity with them ; but that submis- 
sion to their Parliament icas no 
part of our ccnstituiion, nor ever in 
idea if history may be credited; 
and we appealed to their native 
justice and magnanimity, as well 
as to the ties of our common kin- 
TOL. II. Q. 



Not altered. 



" A prince whose character jif 
thus marked by every act whicia 
may define a tyrant is unfit to bt 
the ruler of a free people. 



"Nor have we been wanting ij* 
attention to our British brethre/.- 
We have Avarned them from time 
to time of attempts by their legis- 
lature to extend an unwarrantable 
jurisdiction over us. We have 
reminded them of the circum- 
stances of our emigration and 
settlement here ; we have appeal- 
ed to their native justice and 
magnanimity, and tee have cov^ 
jured them by the ties of our com- 
mon kindred to disavow these 
usurpations, whicli would inevita- 
bly interrupt our connexion and 
correspondence. ' They too have 
been deaf to the voice of justice 
and of consanguinity. We mnsi 
therefore acquiesce in the necess> 
ty which denounces our separa- 
tion, and hold them as we hold the 
rest of mankind, enemies in war, 
in peace friends. 



182 



APPENDIX, 



<ired, to disavow these usurpa- 
tions, which 10 ere likely to inter- 
rupt our ©onnexion and corres- 
pondence. They too have been 
deaf to the voice of justice and 
consanguinity, and, when occa- 
sions have been given them by the 
regular course of their laws of re- 
moving from their councils the dis- 
turbers of our harmony, they have 
4y their free election re-established 
them in power. Jit this very time 
too, they are permitting their chief 
magistrate to send over not only 
soldiers of our common blood, but 
Scotch and foreign mercenaries to 
invade and destroy us. These facts 
have given the last stab to agonizing 
affection, and manly spirit bids us 
to renounce for ever these unfeeling 
brethren. We must endeavour to 
forget our fonner love for them, and 
hold them as we hold the rest of 
mankind, enemies in war, in 
peace friends. We might have 
been a free and a great people to- 
gether ; but a communication of 
grandeur and of freedom, it seems 
is below their dignity. Be it so, 
since they will have it. The road 
to happiness and to glory is open 
U us too — toe will tread it apart 
from them, and acquiesce in the 
necessity Avhich denounces ovx 
eternal separation. 

" We, therefore, the Represen- 
tatives of the United States of 
America in General Congress as- 
sembled, do, in the name and by 
the authoricy of the good people 
of these States, reject and re- 
nounce all allegiance and subjec- 
tion to the kings of Great Britain, 
and all others who may hereafter 
claim by, through or under them. ; 
loe utterly dissolve all political con- 
nexion which may heretofore have 
sabsisted between us and the people 
of Great Britain ; and finally ive 
do assert and declare these Colonies 



" We, therefore, the Represen- 
sentatives of the United States of 
America in General Congress as- 
sembled, appealing to the Supreme 
Judge of the v)orldfor the rectitude 
of our intentions, do, in the name 
and by the authority of the good 
people of these Colonies, solemnly 
publish and declare that these 
united Colo7iies are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent 
States ; that they are absolved from 
all allegiance to the British crown, 
and that all political connexion be- 
tween them and the state of Great 



APPENDIX. 



183 



to be free and independent States, 
and that as free and independent 
Stales they have full power to 
levy war, conclude peace, contract 
alliances, establish commerce, 
iind to do ail other acts and 
things which independent States 
may of rig-ht do. 

" And, for the support of this 
Declaration, we, &c. 



Britain, is, and ought to be, totally 
dissolved; and that as free and 
independent States they have full 
power to levy war, conclude 
peace, contract alliances, estab- 
lish commerce, and to do all other 
acts and things which indepen- 
dent States may of right do. 

"And for the support of this 
Declaration, with a firm reliance 
on the protection of Divine Provi- 
dence, we, &c. 



APPENDIX II 



"I, James Thompson of the City of Quebec, do testify 
and declare that I served in the capacity of an assistant en- 
gineer, during the siege of this city, invested, during the 
years 1775 and 1776, by the American forces under the com- 
mand of the late Major-General Richard Montgomery; that 
in an attack made by the American troops under the imme- 
diate command of General Montgomery in the night of the 
31st of December, 1775, on a British post at the southern- 
most extremity of the city, near Pres de Ville. the General 
recieved a mortal wound, and with him were killed his two 
nides-de-camp, M'Pherson and Cheeseman, who were found 
on the morning of the 1st of January, 1776, almost covered 
over with snow ; that Mrs. Prentice, who kept an hotel at 
Quebec, and with whom General Montgomery had pre- 
Tiously boarded, was brought to view the body after it was 
placed in the guard-room, and which she recognised, by a 
particular mark which he had on the side of his head, to be 
the General's ; that the body was then conveyed to a house 
immediately opposite to the President's residence, who pro- 
Tided a genteel coffin for the General's body, which was 
lined inside with .flannel, and outside of it with black cloth ; 
that in the night of the 4th of January it was conveyed by me 
from Gobert's house, and was interred six feet in front oi 
the gate, within a wall that surrounded a powder-magazine 
near the ramparts bounding on St. Lewis' Gate ; that the fu- 
neral service was performed at the grave by the Rev. Mr. 
Montmollen, then chaplain of the garrison ; that his two 
aides-de-camp were buried in their clothes without any cof- 
fins, and that no person was buried within twenty-five 
yards of the General ; that I am positive, and can testify and 
declare, that the coffin of the late General Montgomery, 
taken up on the morning of the 16th of the present month 
of June, 1818, is the identical cogin deposited by me on the 



APPENDIX 



185 



day of his burial, and that the present coffin contnin^ th« 
rernams of the late General. I do further te"nd^^^^^^^^ 
that subsequent to the finding of General ^Lntgome y'* 

IJ-: 7?r ^'' ^'^""'^^ ^^^"- ^'S^'^^' than my own, aVd on 
going to the seminary, where the American offices were 
lodged,they recognised the sword, which affected them so 
much that numbers of them wept, in consequencfof Xfe 
1 have never worn the sword since 

1818^''''"""'^^""'^^^"^' ^*^h^ city of Quebec, 19th of Juae, 

" James Thompson. " 



APPENDIX III. 



Major John Andre, Adjutant-General of the British 
army, under Sir Henry Clinton, was selected to make final 
arrangements with General Arnold, commanding the Ame- 
rican post at West-Poini, and who had entered into negoci- 
ations for such a disposition of his forces that the fortress 
might be easily taken by surprise. A correspondence had 
for some time been kept up, under a mercantile guise, 
between Andre and Arnold, whose assumed names were 
Anderson and Gustavus, the Vulture sloop of war proceed- 
ing up the Hudson for the purpose of facihtating the com- 
munication, but not approaching so close to West-Point as 
to excite suspicion. A personal interview being necessary, 
Andre landed from the ship on the night of the 21st of Sep- 
tember, 1780, and had an interview with Arnold upon the 
farm of a person named Smith, who had brought him 
ashore. Daylight dawning, while the parties were in con- 
ference, Arnold proposed that Andre should remain con- 
cealed until the following night, when the boatmen refused 
to accompany him, the Vulture having dropped some dis- 
tance down the stream, in consequence of a gun having 
been brought to bear upon her during the day. Andre had 
thus no alternative but to proceed to New York by land, 
and receiving a pass from Arnold, he laid aside his military 
uniform for a suit of plain clothes, and set out on horseback 
in company with Smith for the British lines. Having pass- 
ed all the American guards and outposts in safety, his guide 
parted from him, after giving all the necessary instructions 
with regard to the route he was to pursue, and he was de- 
scending the hill into Tarry-town when one of three militia- 
men, who were playing at cards by the road-side, seized his 
bridle. Losing his usual presence of mind, instead of pro- 
ducing his pass, Andre asked "where they belonged;" and 
being answered, "To below" (meaning New York) not 



APPEND!?: 187 

mispecting deceit, he replied, '-So do I." When he disco- 
vered his mistake, he offered, some bribes to the militia-men, 
which they resolutely refused, and, searching his person, 
all the requisite information respecting West-Point was 
found in Arnold's hand-writing concealed in Andre's boots. 
When carried before the officer commanding the American 
outposts, he still gave his name as Anderson, and his cap- 
ture was imprudently reported to Arnold, who, throwing 
himself into a boat, took refuge on board the Vulture; 
knowing that he had escaped, Andre then threw aside all 
concealment, but would only divulge those things which 
could implicate himself. A court-martial, of which Gene- 
ral Green was president, Lafayette and Lord Stirling two 
of the members, adjudged him to be a spy, and to suffer 
death, according to the established rules of warfare upon the 
following day. Sir Henry Clinton exerted himself to have 
Andre considered first as under the protection of a flag, 
then as a prisoner of war, and even Arnold gave certificates 
tending to exculpate him ; but in vain. Andre himself, 
dreading disgrace alone, wished to have the death of a sol- 
dier, not that of a criminal, and addressed the following 
letter to Washington: — " Buoyed above the terror of death 
by the consciousness of a life devoted to honourable pur- 
suits, and stained with no action that can give me remorse, 
I trust that the request I make to your Excellency at this 
serious period, and which is to soften my last moments, will 
not be rejected. Sympathy towards a soldier will surely 
induce your Excellency, and a military friend, to adapt the 
mode of my death to the feelings of a man of honour. Let 
me hope, sir, than if aught in my character impresses you 
with esteem towards me, as the victim of policy and resent- 
ment, I shall experience the operation of those feelings in 
yotu- breast, by being informed that I am not to die on a 
gibbet." Eventhis, his last request, was denied. Washington 
consulted his officers, and 'tis said that, but for one of them, 
it would have been granted. Andre was executed in his 
twenty-ninth year at Tappan on the 2d of October, nine 
days after his capture ; and Arnold received the commission 
of Brigadier-general in the British army. Washington had 
laid a deep plan for carrying him off from the midst of the 
troops in New- York, which was to be executed by a Ser- 
geant Major Champe, a Virginian, who deserted for that 
purpose; and, but for an unforeseen accident, Andre would 
have been saved. Andre's fate excited universal sympathy, 
both in England and in America; he was young handsome, 
talented, and possessed a chivalric disposition, somewhat 



188 APPBNDIX. 

touched with romantic heroism. His character, however, 
eannol better be drawn than in the words of General Ha 
milton, the American Adjutant-general, whose subsequent 
unhappy fate I have before noticed. "There was some- 
thing singularly interesting in the character and fortunes of 
Andre. To an excellent understanding, well improved by 
education and travel, he united a peculiar elegance of mind 
and manners, and the advantages of a pleasing person. Jt 
is said he possessed a taste for the fine arts, and had him- 
self attained some proficiency in poetry, music, and paint- 
ing. His knowledge appeared without ostentation, and 
embellished by a diffidence that rarely accompanies so many 
ialents and accomplishments, which left you to suppose 
more than appeared. His sentiments were elevated and 
mspired esteem ; they had a softness that concilated affec- 
tion. His elocution was handsome, his address easy, polite, 
and insinuating. ***** The character I have given q( 
him is drawn partly from what I saw myself, and partly 
from information. I am aware that a man of real merit is 
never seen in so favourable a light as through the medium 
of adversity. The clouds that surround him are so many 
shades that set off his good qualities. Misfortune cuts down 
little vanities, that in prosperous times serve as so many 
spots in his virtues, and gives a tone to humanity that jnake^ 
Mn worth more amiable." 



C 310 88 

LBJl?9 



. « • 



\0 ^^ '' 



• » 


















* • t 









>. 






% • 






tF 









( 



/^fe\ V..'^'' /^¥.^^ ' 

9 



^<}5<?«v 



,0' 









^ 

A^^ .-i'^"- 



.0^ t 











.^<' 










^. .-^ .*" 



L-^^r 






-^^^-^ 



♦ ^^ %. o 










^^ >///>'>-. E 



C 

•5'' 



• . ' •. 



M 



^ 




iS^ 



^^ 














HECKMAN 

BINDERY INC. 

^ AUG 88 

N. MANCHESTER, 
^^ IN DIANA .46962 







* isi^<;(^ 



